


Burned But Not Buried, Part II

by ErinHoltzmann



Category: Florence + the Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Potions, Spells & Enchantments, Witch Hunters, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-02 04:04:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8650696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinHoltzmann/pseuds/ErinHoltzmann
Summary: Florence leads Isabella and her girls to the safe place in Sweden, where they hope to be safe from the witch hunters. However, when other witches arrive, tension builds and Isabella has to fight for her right to live among the witches.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to [Burned But Not Buried](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5116127/chapters/11770025). It contains more sex, but also more scenes of Florence helping Isabella to become a witch. So far, I've written more than half of what I'm planning to write (well over 30,000 words) and I'm going to update it every Friday.

Isabella was glad it was still warm. Otherwise, the night air would have been painful against her face. They flew low but had to avoid farmhouses and villages on their way. Shortly after they had started, Isabella had seen the camp of the witch hunters to her left and she could not help but ask herself how Laura was doing. She hoped everything would be all right and that she would not be punished for taking Isabella’s side during the trial.

They flew north, which Isabella could tell by keeping an eye on the North Star, in a low speed. From the ground, they must look like a flock of big birds. Isabella was flying behind Florence in the middle of the group. It was too dark to make out the faces around her and she could only recognise Florence by her red hair, which appeared black now, and by the big hat she was wearing for the journey.

When Isabella spotted the first strip of light to her right, Florence raised her arm and waved it toward the ground. Remembering what she had learned earlier that day, Isabella leaned forward and followed the group. Only when she touched down did she realise how stiff she was and she stumbled over her own feet while entangling her legs from the broomstick.

“We will rest here for now,” Florence announced. “Set up camp while I cast the protective spells.”

Isabella looked around in confusion as Lisa and two other girls opened up their backpacks. Tents were revealed and quickly set up, and Isabella asked herself both how the tents had fitted inside the backpacks and, once they were ready, how all of them could fit inside three small ones.

While Isabella peaked inside one of them, she felt someone stroke her butt.

“Will you sleep in the same tent as me?” Florence asked softly.

“Of course I will,” Isabella answered with a smile. “Is one of them yours?”

Florence smirked. “I’ll have to disappoint you.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “No sex for you tonight.”

Isabella blushed. “I wasn’t thinking about sex.”

*

They continued like this for three nights. Every evening, once the sun had set, Florence had them mount their brooms and they spent until sunrise flying across Europe. In the morning, they landed on an empty field, in the middle of a forest or on top of a mountain and set up camp. Isabella slept next to Florence every time, mostly with her arm slung around the witch’s waist, sure nothing would happen while Florence kept an eye on her.

As the landed for the fourth time when the first sunlight appeared, Isabella felt a chill creep across her arms. They were camping near the sea and a fresh breeze coming from the water made her shiver.

“Take this.” Florence handed her a jacket. “Sweden is colder than Italy, isn’t it?”

“Are we there?” Isabella asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

“If by there you mean in Sweden, then yes,” Florence answered. “We’re not at the safe place yet, though. It’s still another night’s flight away.”

Isabella looked around in the first light of the morning and could make out rocks and sand. “Looks like England,” she murmured.

“Not where we’re going,” Florence said with a chuckle. “It’s going to get much colder from here on. You can keep my jacket if you want.”

That night, or rather day, Isabella was too excited to find sleep. The concerns she had discussed with Florence still were present at the back of her mind. Would the witches in the safe place except a witch hunter into their midst without hesitation? Now that she was almost there, the fear of being rejected, cast out or killed made her sleepless. She did not want to put Florence into the position where she had to choose between her own kind and Isabella. The truth was, she was almost certain that Florence would choose her and she did not want them both to become outcasts. When Isabella finally found sleep around midday, it was only light and she tossed around with bad dreams about Laura and the witches she would soon meet.

Her last night on a broomstick, Isabella spent searching the ground for any signs of where they were going and what she would find there. The lights on the ground were sparser than they had been during their whole flight across Europe. Instead, Isabella often spotted wide patches of darkness and discovered upon closer inspection that they were woods.

Florence gave the signal to land earlier than the previous nights. It was still pitch black as they came down on the side of a mountain not far from the treeline.

“We’re almost there,” Florence announced, “and we will make it tonight, don’t worry, Lisa.”

Isabella glanced at Lisa to see the look of annoyance on her face.

“I just have a few final words to say to you before we arrive,” Florence went on. “Where we’re going, a lot of witches are going to be waiting for us. I don’t know how many there will be, but the last time there were around 200 from different places across the world. I must ask you to stay close. Every witch has different methods to teach her pupils and I don’t want you to get mixed up in things you don’t understand yet. However, I encourage you to seek friends amongst your kind. No experience is more valuable than the exchange between women from different backgrounds.”

Isabella swallowed hard. She was not sure if she would be able to defend herself against 200 witches who had certainly all be hunted by someone like her at one point in their lives.

“We will receive lodgings close to each other and the possibility to continue your training,” Florence went on. “Nothing in your daily lives will change much, except dinner, which is taken in with everyone present. Are there any questions?”

Isabella did have a question, but it was to do with her safety and she did not want to raise it in front of everyone afraid she would be judged by the others.

However, Lisa did not hesitate to address what Isabella was thinking about.

“What about Isabella?” she asked with her eyes pinned to Florence’s face. “Won’t the other witches mistrust us if we bring someone like her to them?”

“Isabella learned to trust us,” Florence pointed out calmly, “so I’m sure there won’t be any problem in that regard.”

Isabella was glad it was still dark so she could hide her blush from the curious eyes of the others.

“So we won’t run into any problems?” Nora asked carefully. “It’s not that I don’t trust Isabella; we just have been talking and we thought it might not make the best first impression if we bring a witch killer with us.”

“They will mistrust you all at first.” Florence was still calm. “That is their nature. Once you’ve been a witch for as long as I have, you will learn you cannot trust anyone without caution. They will ask us all questions, most likely individually, to see if our stories line up and if we don’t mean them any harm. But as long as you don’t have any bad intentions, nothing will happen to you.”

When she heard she would be questioned alone by a witch she did not know, Isabella felt panic rise up to her throat and choke her. Florence had failed to mention this to her before and Isabella felt slightly betrayed at being only just now confronted with this information. She could not believe the witches at the safe place would believe her when she told them she was not one of the witch hunters anymore. Her past would be enough to condemn her.

“If that is all, we still have a short flight ahead of us and we should get going before the sun comes up,” Florence concluded their stopover. “It’s not far now, but we shouldn’t waste any more time.”

If anything, Isabella was even more worried now than she had been before this brief talk, but she climbed back onto her broomstick with the others and pushed herself off the hard ground. It was still night and she could only follow the shadows in front of her and trust them to lead her to her destination. Despite her worries, she could not help but ask herself if this was the usual way to approach the safe place – under the cover of the night. She doubted she would be able to find her way there by day. If she was right, it was a brilliant way to hide this place and Florence could learn a thing or two about protective spells from the witches there.

Of course, Isabella would never put the blame for anything that had happened back in Italy on Florence. It had been an unfortunate culmination of several different events set in motion by several different people. Still, had Florence only listened to her and been more careful, Isabella might not have had to abandon her old life.

When this thought crossed her mind, Isabella had to physically shake her head to get it out again. She did not want to go back to living amongst people who killed witches just for trying to help others. The more time Isabella spent thinking about this, the surer she was that not a single witch she had caught or killed had been guilty of a crime. This was not what Isabella wanted to spend her life doing – harming innocent people just because of superstition or prejudice. The last couple of weeks in Italy had opened Isabella’s eyes to how she had supported a cruel institution for all these years. If this was not proof enough for the other witches her intentions were good, she could not say what would be.

However, when Florence again gave the signal to land, Isabella could not stop her heart from beating violently against her ribcage. If these turned out to be the last couple of minutes or hours she spent alive, at least she would get to learn something about the people she had been paid to murder all these years and tell them she felt nothing but remorse.

It was still so dark she could not make out anything around her. She looked around, trying to pierce the darkness, but it was impossible to see anything. The only good guess she could make was they had landed on the side of a mountain again, but anything more than that was wild speculation.

“We’re here,” Florence announced.

Isabella could hear she was not the only one who was confused. The girls around her looked around and whispered questions to one another.

“I must ask you all to stick together now,” Florence reminded them again. “If any of you get lost, tell them you came with me and they will direct you back to the group.”

Then, Florence walked off toward the shadows and when the girls followed her carefully, Isabella did the same. They walked like this for a couple of minutes, blind in the darkness of the night with only Florence to guide them. It was cold on the side of the mountain and once Isabella’s eyes had adjusted to the sparse lighting, she could see little patches of snow along the way.

Isabella’s lungs began to burn because of breathing in the cold air while she was climbing a mountain, and she shivered despite the jacket which Florence had given her. When she thought she could not take it any longer without asking Florence for more clothes or a spell to keep her warm, Florence stopped again.

The girls gathered around her and looked on in wonder as Florence put her hands against a solid rock wall, which soon began to glow red from the inside. After a couple of minutes, the rocks melted away and revealed a small passage lit by torches, which lead into the mountain.

Isabella wanted to ask Florence why no one was stopping them from entering, when a guard in an armour appeared out of the mountain. A helmet was covering the face, but as soon as the guard spoke, there was no doubt it was a woman.

“What brings you here?” she asked slowly, not lowering the sword she held in one hand.

“My name is Florence Welch,” Florence introduced herself, “and these are my girls. We have come here from Italy where we had to flee persecution and we ask you for sanctuary.”

The guard nodded. “Do you have any proof for what you are saying?”

“I have come here before,” Florence answered. “I am sure Evelyne can vouch for me.”

“She is still asleep. You will have to wait until she awakens,” the guard informed her. “Until then, you can wait in here but you are forbidden from coming any further into the mountain.”

They all shuffled inside quickly, shivering from the cold and from nerves. Isabella kept close to Florence, scared the guard would somehow notice she was not one of them and drag her away. As soon as they were inside, the wall closed behind them and shut out the cold.

“Wait here,” the guard ordered. “If you move away, it will have serious consequences.”

They all nodded; some girls had already sat down on the floor of the tunnel, exhausted from the long journey. Isabella realised this would be the last opportunity to talk to Florence somewhat privately before they were dragged off to be interrogated.

“Could I talk to you for a minute?” she asked Florence as soon as the guard had left them.

Florence nodded and together they walked to the end of the tunnel where the wall had just closed.

“What is it, Isa?” Florence smiled.

Isabella’s heart skipped a beat at Florence using the nickname for her. “What should I tell them?” she asked. “I don’t want to say that I’m a _witch hunter_ , you know. They’re so strict about letting people in here, I don’t think they would let someone like me see all their secrets.”

“I told you before, there’s nothing you need to worry about,” Florence answered with a shake of her head. “They will understand, trust me.”

“They don’t even trust you,” Isabella pointed out. “Who is this Evelyne and why can she vouch for you?”

“She is the leader here,” Florence answered, “and she knows me from my previous visit. And of course they don’t trust us yet; I’ve told you before that they’re wary of strangers.”

“And I’m the opposite of a witch,” Isabella insisted. “Can’t I tell them I’m your sister or something?”

“You don’t want to get them to trust you by lying to them, do you?” Florence shook her head. “You have to be absolutely honest – tell them everything about who you are and where you come from and how you met me. They won’t punish you, I promise.”

Still not convinced, Isabella bit her bottom lip. “But what if they do punish me? Will you defend me?”

“They won’t,” Florence repeated, “but if they do, I will be the first to defend you.”

With a reassuring pat on the back, she left Isabella standing on her own and walked back to the others.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella is awaiting the interrogation while discovering she seems to be welcome in the safe place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a longish chapter; since I wrote this during NaNoWriMo, I have no idea how long the individual chapters will be.

Isabella could not tell how long they waited for someone to get back to them. She did not have the feeling they others minded much. They were all glad to be back in the warmth with a solid roof above their heads. Most of the girls had sat down and cuddled up to one another, not minding there were no soft cushions or sofas around and they had to make do with the solid floor.

Florence was sitting in the middle of the group, watching over them, but otherwise lost in her own thoughts. Isabella had sat down near Nora and Lisa, with her back against the wall, watching the tunnel where the guard had vanished. She wanted to be the first one to see when she got back with news.

Shortly after the first girls had fallen into a deep sleep and started to snore, the guard came back, accompanied by a black woman in a long, red dress.

“Florence,” she said in a loud voice, making one of the girls wake up and gasp in surprise.

Florence stood up and hugged the woman. “Maggie, it’s so good to see you.”

“I heard about you having to flee from your home,” Maggie went on without any hesitation. “For how long have you been travelling?”

“Three days and four nights,” Florence answered.

“Oh you poor things,” Maggie exclaimed in shock. “We will delay the proceedings until you had a good night’s sleep.”

“Thank you,” Florence mumbled before turning to the others. “Get up, you’ll get a bed soon enough.”

Slowly, they all climbed to their feet. Then they followed Maggie and the guard along the corridor. Isabella supposed they were walking deeper into the mountain and expected an elaborate cave system at the tunnel’s end, a perfect hiding place carved into the stone. But they did not come to any crossroads or caves. Instead, they kept walking along the narrow path.

The longer they walked, the colder Isabella got. They moved in silence – no one complained or asked questions. Isabella wondered if there was an easier and quicker way to get to this hiding place or if everyone who tried to reach it had to walk through the mountain for hours.

When Isabella was about to ask for a short break, Maggie finally announced that they were close.

“It’s just over there,” she said, pointing along the tunnel.

Isabella could not tell for sure, but it looked as if there was a different light in front of them, one which was not fire and wood.

“Let’s hurry,” Florence said, looking around at her girls who had difficulties standing.

“You will stay in a house right at the entrance for now,” Isabella heard Maggie tell Florence. “I hope you won’t be offended if we position guards around you.”

“Of course not,” Florence assured her.

“I will send you some food and drinks for when you wake up,” Maggie continued. “And in the evening, you can start telling us everything.”

Then they rounded a corner and Isabella could see she had been wrong in her expectations. They had not come out in a cave, but in a small valley. From the edge of the cliff they were standing on, Isabella had a good view of several houses below, big and small, with wooden roofs and small windows. There was a brook flowing between them and the trees were all coated in a thin snow blanket. It looked like a perfect little village and not at all like Isabella had expected.

“You’re right down there,” Maggie said, pointing at a small house at the bottom of stairs which had been carved into the side of the mountain. “It’s not far now, you’re almost there.”

Isabella looked at the sky above them. The sun had risen while they had been inside the mountain. The sky was blue, but the sun had not yet risen over the side of the mountains around them. It was a bit warmer than it had been in the tunnel, but not by much. Isabella was looking forward to a warm bed and a warm meal.

They climbed down the steps to the valley, which took them another 20 minutes because they had to be careful how they placed their feet. When they finally reached the house, more guards were waiting for them, all women without helmets but heavily armed. They welcomed Florence with a nod and one of them unlocked the door.

“Rest well,” Maggie said, hugging Florence. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours with food.”

Isabella was one of the first to enter the house. The door led straight into a big living room with a long table in it, similar to the one which had stood in Florence’s garden. From this room, a corridor led to several bedrooms and at the end of it was a bathroom of similar size to the living room.

“I know it’s not much,” Florence apologised to the girls, “but at least we’ll be safe here.”

Isabella was impressed by the size of the house, which looked much smaller from the outside than it was on the inside, and did not see the reason why Florence was apologising. Of course, it could not be compared to the house they had left behind in Florence, but it was definitely better than the caves Isabella had imagined herself spending the next couple of months in.

“Where shall I sleep?” Isabella asked Florence as the girls hurried off to the bedrooms in groups of three or four.

“You’re sharing a bed with me,” Florence informed her, “if you don’t mind.”

Isabella blushed. “Is that decent?”

Florence giggled. “What are you scared of? That the witches here will think we’re in some sort of … relationship?”

Isabella blushed even more. “No … well, maybe a bit,” she confessed. “I mean, amongst witch hunters it’s rather uncommon that two women … share a bed.”

“Is it condemned?”

“It’s not forbidden, but some people might make mean comments or bully you because of it,” Isabella answered.

“Not here,” Florence assured her. “Relationships between women are very common and often end in marriage.”

“Oh?” Isabella made. “But is that legal?”

Florence snorted. “We don’t follow your laws, obviously. And there’s nothing in our laws which forbids it.”

Isabella sighed. “I had no idea. You have to teach me about your laws and –”

“Shhhh,” Florence made. “Some other time. We’re both tired and I’ve been looking forward to a bed ever since we landed.”

Isabella shut up and nodded. Florence took her hand and led her to the back of the house and into the last bedroom to the left. To Isabella’s relief, they were the only ones staying in there. Florence shut the door and started to undress immediately, letting her dress fall to the floor.

“Ugh,” she made. “Finally.”

Isabella took more time to undress, still feeling a bit bashful in front of Florence.

“Will we get clothes here?” she asked to distract from her naked body.

“Of course we will,” Florence nodded, climbing into bed. “We’ll get everything we could possibly need here.”

“How long will we stay?” Isabella sat down on the other side of the bed.

Florence shrugged. “For many months, possibly years,” she answered honestly. “I can’t say, but we can’t go back to Florence in the near future.”

“ _Years_ ,” Isabella echoed. “I didn’t think it would be that long.”

“We don’t really have anywhere else to go,” Florence pointed out. “But we’ve only just arrived; you shouldn’t be worrying about how long we’ll have to stay here.”

Isabella raised an eyebrow. “What else should I be worrying about?”

“About if we can be quiet enough so the others won’t hear us having sex,” Florence said with a grin on her face.

*

That night – or morning, Isabella reminded herself – they were too tired to find out the answer to that question. Instead, Isabella fell asleep in Florence’s arms, unable to keep her eyes open any longer as soon as she had settled into the bed.

Around them, the village was waking up, with everyone starting their day slowly. Some of them threw quick glances at the house, while others stopped to ask the guards what was going on. They only received a stoic glance for an answer. Inside the house, no one was aware that their arrival was gaining more and more attention as the day went on. Isabella slept until the late afternoon, but still was one of the first ones to wake up when she heard loud voices outside.

“It’s Maggie with our food,” Florence told her, drawing back an embroidered curtain, letting in the last sunlight of the day.

Isabella had not noticed her getting up, but now sat up slowly to get a good look at Florence’s naked body.

“Is she making all that noise?” Isabella asked sleep-drunkenly.

“No, it’s the other women,” Florence answered. “I think they want to know what’s going on. It’s not every day that a group of so many new ones arrives.”

Isabella was immediately alert. “Are they threatening Maggie?”

Florence giggled. “Of course not. They’re just curious and want to meet us.”

“But we have to be interrogated first, right?”

“Are you worrying again?” Florence teased her. “I bet it’s your empty stomach. You’ll feel better once you had breakfast.”

Isabella wanted to point out that it was already early evening and Florence should call it dinner instead, but Florence was already bouncing toward the door and rushing outside to meet Maggie. When Isabella glanced outside of their bedroom door, she met the glances of some of the girls who had also been woken up by the commotion outside. They looked dishevelled and still a bit tired, but every bit as alert as Isabella.

Florence was already thanking Maggie for the food when Isabella had dressed herself in her old clothes and walked into the living room. The table was laden with plates of food, similar to the meals Isabella had enjoyed back in Florence.

“Good morning, Isabella,” Maggie greeted her as soon as she spotted her.

Isabella did not ask how she knew her name, but responded to the greeting with a short nod.

“I hope you slept well,” Maggie continued. “I brought you food and new clothes are on their way. You can use the bathroom anytime you want.”

Isabella nodded again, but remained put.

“We won’t be starting with questioning you today after all,” Maggie told Florence. “It’s late and we want you to enjoy your meal. Tomorrow morning, Evelyne will visit you and we will start to talk to each of your girls individually.”

Isabella had hoped to get the interrogation over as soon as possible, preferably before she started to eat, but since there was no chance of it happening today, she sat down at the table and began to laden her plate with vegetables and bread, only now realising how hungry she actually was.

“I bet you haven’t eaten properly in days,” Maggie said with a sigh, watching Isabella as she hungrily bit off a huge piece of bread. “I’ll leave you to it. If you should need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask one of the guards to deliver a message to me.”

Florence hugged Maggie goodbye and sat down next to Isabella, watching her with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Enjoying your last meal?” she asked Isabella.

Isabella froze with a fork full of roasted vegetables halfway to her mouth. “How do you mean?”

“The last meal before we’re all interrogated,” Florence elaborated.

“You shouldn’t be joking about this,” Isabella reprimanded her. “What if they throw me out, wouldn’t you care about that?”

Florence sighed. “For the last time, they won’t. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Well,” Isabella shrugged, “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Isabella Summers, you will finish your plate and if I have to force-feed it to you,” Florence said with a growl in her voice.

Isabella raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to see you try.”

Florence picked a piece of pumpkin from Isabella’s fork and carefully put it between her lips. Then she winked at Isabella.

Isabella rolled her eyes to signal that she was still mad at Florence but leaned forward nevertheless to pick the piece of pumpkin from between Florence’s lips. Only when she heard some of the girls giggling behind her did she move back into her chair.

“It would take forever to eat like this,” Isabella pointed out.

“Then finish your plate on your own,” Florence told her. “You’ll need your strength for when our clothes arrive. If you want a good outfit, you need to be fast.”

Florence’s warning would not have been necessary. About half an hour after Maggie had left she was back with 23 boxes, one for each of them, filled with clothes.

“It’s all donations from the others,” she told them. “Be careful because it’s not easy to get new clothes around here.”

Isabella carefully opened her box and found what she had expected: wide shirts and trousers in black and white, and the occasional colourful dress.

“Thank you,” she said to Maggie.

“If you want, you can give me your clothes, I’ll have them washed and you can have them back,” Maggie went on.

“I think showers are in order anyway,” Florence said with a look around. “We’ll have our old clothes ready for you tomorrow.”

Isabella, who had only briefly glanced into the bathroom, had reservations about showering together with 20 people. Florence, who had noticed some of the girls glancing nervously toward the room at the end of the corridor, was already busy dispelling their fears.

“It’s just until we move into a bigger house,” she promised them. “Soon, you all have private bathrooms. Anyone who is shy about undressing in front of the others can go on their own.”

Most of them murmured they would prefer to be showering alone, so Florence told them to come up with an order so there would be no fights. Isabella decided not to get involved and go shower when the others were done. She knew she should get ready for bed again, since there was not much else to do besides sleeping and she needed all the strength she could get, but she was also much too nervous to think about rest. Instead, she sat down on one of the windowsills in the living room and watched what was going on in the ever-thickening darkness outside.

From where she was sitting, she could make out four guards. They were sitting on a rock formation near Isabella’s window and were deep in conversation. Isabella could not hear what they were saying. Near the stairs they had come down from was a group of three women who were watching the house from a safe distance. Isabella could not say for sure in the dark but they seemed to be around Florence’s age and were all dressed in black dresses. They maybe were spies for this Evelyne to make sure they were keeping up with the conditions of their stay here.

When it had turned so dark Isabella could only make out the shadows of the guards, she turned around and leaned her back against the window to watch what was going on in the living room. Florence was surrounded by some of the girls, helping them to decide what to wear for the interrogation tomorrow. To Isabella, this seemed like a trivial problem compared to everything else, but if it kept them busy and happy, she would not interfere. Finally, Florence waved for Isabella to join them, and reluctantly, Isabella heeded her wishes.

“Do you want me to help you with an outfit?” Florence asked her carefully, not sure if Isabella was still mad at her from earlier.

Isabella shrugged and sat down on the floor next to Florence.

“She’s already doing really well, isn’t she?” Nora asked, pointing at Isabella’s outfit. “She could pass for a witch any day.”

“This isn’t about passing for a witch,” Florence reprimanded the girl sternly. “Isabella doesn’t need to pass, she already is a witch. No, this is about finding an outfit she feels comfortable in for tomorrow.”

Isabella pricked up her ears. “What do you mean, I’m a witch?”

“You started taking lessons with me, remember? Also, you flew here on a broomstick. This qualifies you.”

“But don’t you have to do something special, like pass a test?” Isabella inquired.

“From the moment you decided to stay with us, there was no doubt about what your future path is,” Florence told her, “even though your decision might have been due to uncontrollable external circumstances. The bond you forged with us by accompanying us here cannot easily be broken.”

Isabella opened her mouth.

“I know you’re going to say you didn’t have a choice,” Florence continued quickly, “but you had. You could have stayed in Florence, faced the witch hunters and submitted yourself to the punishment they had in mind for you. Instead, you came with us.”

Isabella swallowed heavily. “Are you saying I did the wrong thing and I’m a coward for running away?”

The girls around Florence stared at Isabella in surprise. Florence just shook her head.

“How often do you want me to answer the same three questions? You did nothing wrong and no one here will kill you because of your decisions.”

Isabella felt herself blush with shame but also with anger at not being taken seriously.

“You helped save us, right?” Nora offered. “Without you, we probably wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Isabella pointed out. “And it was Florence who came back to rescue me.” She glanced at Florence. “You could have just left me where I was and escape. Or maybe you wouldn’t have had to escape at all.”

“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” Florence shrugged. “What’s done is done. So either you accept you’re a witch or you can ask Maggie if she wants to escort you back to the entrance.”

Florence had never talked like this to Isabella. She did not want to call her out on this in front of the girls, but she made a mental note to address the topic later. The whole reason why Isabella had abandoned her old life was because Florence had shown her what being a witch really meant and that witches did not pose a threat. Isabella had listened to Florence because she had been intrigued by her and, later, had discovered feelings for her. If Florence was about to take away her affection for Isabella, Isabella would not want to stay with her any longer in a society where she still was a stranger. Isabella did not want to lose her life as a witch hunter and her newfound life as a witch in the same week.

“I want to stay,” she told Florence, her voice shaking slightly.

“Then. Stop. Worrying,” Florence told her, emphasising every word. “You saved us all, don’t forget that. You came to warn us whenever the hunters in Florence were planning to attack us, you didn’t want to give me up when we were both being held captive. Without you, none of us would be here tonight.”

Isabella nodded, still feeling the knot in her throat. “I think I’m gonna see if the showers are free,” she said to no one in particular, “and then I’m gonna try and sleep a bit more.”

No one stopped her and Isabella walked back to her bedroom. The box of clothes had contained a nightgown, which she took with her to the bathroom now. It was unoccupied and as she folded her old clothes into a neat pile and turned on one of the showers, she could not stop her tears from coming. She washed them away with the hot water from the tab, thankful for her first real shower in what seemed like weeks.

Once she was done, she dried off and slipped into the nightgown before walking back to her bedroom as quietly as possible, so no one would involve her in a conversation. The bed seemed even more inviting than it had this morning, and Isabella quickly fell asleep to the chatter of the girls outside her door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella talks to Evelyne about her past and what made her see that witches aren't evil.

Isabella was woken by Florence tapping against her shoulder. “It’s your turn soon,” she whispered.

“What time is it?” Isabella asked.

“Early,” Florence answered. “The sun isn’t even up yet. They started an hour ago. I’m supposed to go last.”

Isabella shivered, partly because it was cold in their room, partly because she was nervous. “Where are they taking us?”

“To Evelyne’s house,” Florence answered. “Now quickly, get dressed. I’m going to take you there.”

Isabella got up and shivered again when the cold air met her skin. Florence watched her undress and then dress in an outfit she quickly pulled out of the box.

“Did any of the others …,” Isabella started. “I mean, did they send anyone away yet?”

“No, and they won’t,” Florence answered. “We’re all witches in need of sanctuary.”

Isabella nodded while pulling up tight black trousers. Then she faced Florence.

“Did you mean what you said yesterday?” she asked. “Do you really want me to leave?”

Florence jumped off the bed where she had been kneeling and rushed over to Isabella. “Of course I don’t,” she told her and pulled her into a hug. “I would care very much if you left us.”

Isabella audibly drew in breath. “Then let’s hope that they won’t throw me out.”

Florence took her hand and handed her the jacket she had given her. Then she led her out of the room and to the entrance door.

“Evelyne is one of the nicest women you will ever meet,” Florence told Isabella. “She is not cruel or dictatorial. All she wants to do is protect us.”

They stepped outside into the cold morning air. Again, the sun had not risen yet, but Isabella could already see a thin streak of light over the mountains. It was freezing. Isabella was used to the thick humidity and heat of Tuscany. Up here in Sweden, it was as cold as in London during the winter. Isabella could not stop shivering as she followed Florence along a stony path, past several bigger houses. She could feel her breath fog and her fingers grow numb. If the weather was like this during the summer, Isabella did not want to be here for winter.

Florence led her to a big building in the middle of the village. It looked like an old Viking building, with a big front porch and a peaked roof. Smoke was coming out of a chimney and Isabella hoped it would be warm inside. To her chagrin, Florence stopped at the few steps, which led up to the porch, and glanced at one of the guards stationed there.

“Can we come in yet?” she asked.

The guard shook her head. “Evelyne is still talking to the last one you brought.”

Isabella swallowed a sigh.

“Evelyne came to visit us this morning,” Florence told Isabella. “She wanted to meet us all before she started with the interrogations. Most of the girls were asleep anyway, but she had a long chat with a couple of them.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Isabella asked.

“You were so tired yesterday, I thought it best to let you sleep,” Florence answered. “You’ve been through a lot.”

Isabella nodded. “I’m looking forward to not sleeping through the whole day for once,” she admitted. “I haven’t seen proper sunlight in about a week.”

“We’ll get a guided tour through the village today,” Florence said, “so you’ll get plenty of sunlight.”

“Is it always this cold here?” Isabella asked. “I was hoping it would be a bit warmer, since it’s still summer.”

Florence looked at the sky. “The sun is already sinking, soon there won’t be any light at all during the day.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, but good to know.” Isabella shivered again. “No light at all?”

“We’re near the arctic circle,” Florence answered. “On the other hand, it doesn’t get dark during the summer.”

Isabella sighed thinking about a whole winter in complete darkness and looked at the sky with a worried glance.

“You won’t even notice,” Florence promised. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. There will be fires and festivities and before you know it’ll be winter solstice.”

“They’re ready to see you now,” the guard told them from the top of the stairs.

“Wish me luck,” Isabella said with a forced grin on her face. “If we don’t see each other again, I just wanted to tell you –”

Florence shook her head. “I don’t want to hear it because we _will_ see each other again.”

Isabella nodded and quickly pressed a kiss to Florence’s cold lips. “See you.”

She climbed up the stairs to the porch where the guard already held open the door for her. The inside of the house was not as old and Viking as Isabella had expected. The furnishing was modern and kept in light colours, similar to Florence’s living room in Italy. The door led into a spacious living room with a fireplace in its middle. At the back, Isabella could make out two doors, but her attention was immediately drawn to the woman who was sitting in the middle of a long, white sofa near the fireplace.

“You must be Isabella Summers,” she greeted Isabella with a warm smile. “Florence told me so much about you.”

The woman was much older than any witch Isabella had seen so far. She was in her sixties, with long, white hair and a face full of wrinkles. The hand she extended for Isabella to shake was full of age marks, but her nails were short and trimmed.

“Please, sit down,” Evelyne said, patting the space next to her on the sofa.

Isabella did as she was told and waited patiently for Evelyne’s next move.

“Tell me a bit about yourself, Isabella.”

“Well,” Isabella started, determined to get the thing bothering her off her chest immediately. “As Florence might have told you, I used to be a witch hunter … well, killer.”

“Yes, she told me as much,” Evelyne said with a slow nod. “What changed your mind?”

It sounded to Isabella as if Evelyne thought she had been a witch hunter many years ago. “Florence did,” she answered, “when I met her a couple of weeks ago in Florence.”

“How did she do that?”

“She showed me that witches aren’t evil,” Isabella said, a blush colouring her cheeks red. She felt hot now and wished herself to be back outside. “I mean, I learned all my life how witches only want to harm people and kill them. I grew up in a part of London where witches took children every week, only now I’m not sure if it really was the witches or if the authorities blamed every crime that happened on them.”

Evelyne kept nodding. “But then you met Florence?”

“Yes,” Isabella confirmed. “I was called to Italy to find girls which had been abducted by a witch who turned out to be Florence. Florence,” Isabella swallowed, “Florence is a really powerful witch and she showed me what was going on and what she was doing.”

“Are you telling me she jinxed you?” Evelyne asked.

Isabella shook her head violently. “No, of course not,” she told Evelyne with passion in her voice. “She made sure multiple times I was coming to her out of my own free will and no one was forcing me to be there.”

“Good,” Evelyne made thoughtfully. “I should hate for you to be under a spell.”

“I’m definitely not,” Isabella confirmed, not sure if there was a way she could prove Florence’s innocence.

But Evelyne had already moved on to the next topic. “What did Florence say to you that changed your mind?”

“She said many things,” Isabella answered, “but she showed me what she was doing, had me meet the girls and learn what it was they were running away from.”

“And this convinced you witches aren’t evil?”

“Hm …,” Isabella tried to remember what she had thought and felt a couple of weeks ago. “I’m not sure. It was many things, I guess.”

“But you learning the details of what Florence was doing was one of them?”

“Definitely.”

“What were the others?”

Isabella remembered what Florence had told her, about it being common amongst witches that two women were married. “I fell in love with Florence,” she confessed, her voice breaking in the middle of the sentence.

“I thought as much,” Evelyne said with an approving nod. “You’re not the first witch hunter to fall for her _prey_.”

“I know,” Isabella nodded. “I heard stories.”

“Your story had a better ending than the others.” Evelyne shook her head. “I hope you can cherish what you have found in Florence.”

Isabella had the feeling she could talk about anything to Evelyne. “It hasn’t been easy,” she confessed. “I know witch hunters are essentially brutal murderers and I know they’re not helping anyone, but I still sometimes feel like a traitor.”

Evelyne nodded. “That’s only natural. And you will continue to feel like this for a long time. But believe me, you did the right thing. We are glad to welcome you as one of us.”

“So I won’t be punished?” Isabella asked, unable to believe her luck. “I did many bad things in my life.”

“You also did everything right when it came to Florence and her girls,” Evelyne pointed out. “I’ve already spoken to the people in this village and I have their word that no one will try to harm you.”

Isabella bit her bottom lip. She had not yet considered danger might come from the other witches in the village if they learned about Isabella’s past.

“Now.” Evelyne clapped her hands. “With this out of the way, I want you to tell me about you.”

Isabella told her about her upbringing and school days and how she had almost failed to be accepted into the witch hunter school. She also told Evelyne about Laura and how their friendship had almost been ruined by Isabella’s changing feelings for her.

Isabella had no idea how long she spoke with Evelyne but once they had said their goodbyes and Isabella had stepped outside onto the porch again, the sun had risen and it was a bit warmer than it had been earlier. Florence was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, her arms outstretched to pull Isabella into a hug.

“How was it?” she whispered into Isabella’s ear.

“Fine,” Isabella said with a shrug, not willing to admit that she had worried without good reason.

“Do you want to have breakfast?” Florence asked. “Maggie brought us some more food 20 minutes ago.”

Isabella could never say no to a warm breakfast, especially on a cold day like this, and so she followed Florence back across the village to the house. Again, the appearance of the sun had brought the appearance of the inhabitants of the village. Some of them stopped to watch Florence and Isabella walk past, but Isabella did not pay them any attention. After the talk with Evelyne, she felt like she was walking on air.

Back at the house, Isabella was greeted by five of the girls who were already sitting around the table, chatting excitedly. Florence told her to sit next to them while she would bring Isabella coffee. While she waited, Isabella listened in on their conversation. They were all excited about the new life they would start in the village, and for the first time since they had left Italy, Isabella was too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a tour of the village and Evelyne explains some of the rules to them.

Isabella spent the morning eating all kinds of fruit with pancake while they waited for everyone to finish the interrogation, or, as Isabella had come to call it, the friendly chat with Evelyne. Everyone passed her test and they all were allowed to stay in the village for as long as they wished.

Around midday, Evelyne came to visit them at the house once more. “I’m going to show you around the village while we get your new quarters ready,” she announced. “And this evening, you are all invited to our daily feast.”

This announcement was followed by excited chatter. Isabella, who stood close to Florence, quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Florence smiled at her.

Evelyne stepped out of the house and waved for them to follow her. They pushed outside and gathered around the entrance. Evelyne pointed to the stairs they had come down from into the valley for the first time.

“This is our only access point,” she explained. “If you try to fly across the mountains on a, let’s say, broom, your sense of direction will be confused by a spell and you will find yourself flying back the way you came. No one can enter if they don’t walk along this path first.” She let her gaze wander across them. “You don’t need to look so worried. The spell extends to non-witches as well. So if witch hunters haven’t developed some kind of technology we haven’t yet thought of, we all should be save here until eternity.

“Non-witches also aren’t able to open the gateway to the tunnel. Some of you might not even be able to do it on your own. It needs quite a powerful witch to gain access to the valley. You should only come here in the company of someone who knows what they’re doing. So many witches in one space can be a heavy influence, especially on unexperienced ones. We need to make sure you are able to learn everything in your own time and not be influenced by someone and thereby endanger yourselves and others.”

This was the second time in a couple of days someone had mentioned the dangers of so many witches living in the same place. Isabella could not help but wonder if there had been problems in the past with more experienced witches trying to win over younger ones to teach them their ways. Was there tension in the witch community? Did witches go to war against each other? Were their evil witches – not in the sense Isabella had been thinking about for all her life, but maybe witches who were a threat to other witches? Isabella made a mental note to ask Florence about these things.

Evelyne turned to the river behind her. “This is our only source of water here, so don’t pollute it with potions.”

Isabella craned her neck to get a better view of the river.

“I already had to banish people from this village for being negligent with our resources and I would hate to do it again,” Evelyne continued. “You all need to realise we are on our own here. Everything we have we have to make ourselves. And water is the most essential part of life, so don’t waste it.”

They all nodded until Evelyne was satisfied and moved on to the next point of interest, which was one of the big houses Isabella had passed on her way to the interrogation.

“This is one of our living quarters,” Evelyne explained. “Around 20 witches can live here. I try to keep a group which arrives together accommodated in the same place so your leader can continue her education. You will find double bedrooms and a spacious living room as well as educational facilities all in one house. Yours should be ready later today and you will be able to move in before sundown.”

An excited chatter started up from the middle of the group and Isabella knew they all could not wait to have a bit more privacy than they had now. Evelyne, meanwhile, strolled along the path Isabella had taken this morning, leading them to their next stop. Instead of walking toward her house, she took a left turn about halfway there and led them onto a small path. As they followed it, Isabella felt a small rise, until they reached a wide plateau, which she had not noticed before.

Even though they did not walk through a door, it was strangely warm all of a sudden and Isabella began to sweat in her jacket. She was looking at vegetable patches and fruit trees and realised this was where their food had to be coming from.

“Every month we change who is responsible for harvesting our food,” Evelyne explained. “You might have noticed it is quite warm up here. It might have to do with a tiny bit of magic.” She winked. “Especially during the winter months, the harvest is the nicest chore you can do, considering it’s warm and there’s magical sunlight up here.”

For Isabella, it would already have been the nicest chore now. She let her gaze wander across the fields and took in higher corn and fuller apple trees than she had ever seen. Not just the weather, the produce as well was magical. Having lived all her life in the city, Isabella was eager to learn about cultivation and harvest and hoped Florence would include this in their lessons about potions.

“As nice as it is up here, we should move on,” Evelyne told them after five minutes during which no one had spoken but they had all stared at what she was showing them.

Reluctantly, they started their decent and began to shiver as they were met with the cold, Swedish air. Evelyne led them back the way they had come and to her own house, which Isabella had already admired this morning.

“As you all know, this is where I live. If you ever have any problems or are just in search of good conversation, please don’t hesitate to knock on my door. It’s always open to you.”

To Isabella’s relief, she led them up the stairs and into the warmth of her living room. She handed out tea and coffee and then invited them to sit on and around her sofa.

“This concludes our tour,” she announced, “but I don’t want to send you on your way without some words of warning. We have kept this place a secret for centuries. Isabella will confirm she had no idea it excited, just like every witch hunter out there. To make sure it remains this way, I must ask you not to talk to anyone outside of this valley about _anything_ you have seen or done here. We have strict rules in place for our own safety and as soon as you break one of them, you will be banished and are never allowed to return or visit any of the other three safe places. There are no exceptions. We once had a case where a young witch fell in love with a human soldier and brought him back here to protect him from one of their ghastly wars. She was banished and he was executed because they posed a threat to our safety.”

Some of the girls gasped.

“I know this must seem unnecessarily cruel to you, but believe me, it is not. Witches are on the verge of extinction, just because of a misunderstanding a couple of centuries ago. Isn’t that right, Isabella?”

Isabella jumped at being addressed like this unexpectedly. She had learned the history of the witch hunt and knew it had started sometime in the Middle Ages. Her teachers at school had failed to provide an explanation as to why witches had not been hunted before that.

“We were told the witches had sent us the plague,” Isabella murmured.

“Speak up,” Evelyne encouraged her with a smile.

“I learned witches are responsible for the plague,” Isabella repeated in a louder voice. “They infested the rats with the sickness to kill all humans and take over the world.”

Repeating this now in front of a large group of witches made it sound silly, but no one laughed.

“Fear and medieval science are responsible for witches still being hunted today,” Evelyne continued instead of Isabella. “Even though modern-day scientists have figured out the plague is caused by flees on the rats, people still think witches cursed humankind and every witch is essentially evil. There have been attempts to amend this misconception, but they haven’t been fruitful.” She sighed heavily. “People are still condemning us for a crime we didn’t commit and don’t hesitate to kill us if they catch us. Every larger city still has an institution devoted solely to the extermination of a certain group of women.”

One of the girls Isabella knew as Anita raised her hand. “I have a question about the story you told us earlier,” she said timidly. “About the witch who fell in love with a soldier.”

Isabella’s heart clenched in her chest. She could not help but be remembered of her own story and hoped this was not where Anita was going with her question.

“Florence told us before we came here that anyone who has good intentions will be welcomed,” Anita continued. “The girl just wanted to save the man she loved – I can’t think of a more noble intention than this.”

Evelyne smiled at sad smile. “You will discover soon that protecting your own kind always comes before love,” she said slowly. “You will also learn we have a very strict hierarchical structure here. The girl should have come to ask me for help before she led the boy to us. I could have saved them both. But by thinking she knew best what to do in this situation, she betrayed my trust and the safety of the other witches here and I couldn’t let that pass.”

“Couldn’t you have made an exception in that case?” Anita asked carefully.

Evelyne’s face became strict. “If you grant an exception once, everyone will ask you for one. You can’t be a just leader if you help some but ignore the pleas of others.” She paused when she saw Anita staring at her with wide eyes. “I should have mentioned one of our most important rules before telling you the story. Maybe it would have made more sense for you this way.” She took a deep breath. “We do not welcome men her, no matter how much in need of our help they might be.”

“Aren’t there any male witches?” Anita exclaimed in surprise.

“Not that I have heard of,” Evelyne answered. “Many centuries ago, there used to be powerful sorcerers who wandered the earth and helped those in need. But they all died. In fact, I don’t believe they ever existed and people made them up to explain the unexplainable.”

“I thought anyone could become a witch,” Nora said from the back of the room.

“We still like to pick the people we teach,” Evelyne explained calmly. “Centuries of experience taught us you cannot trust men and they will eventually turn against you.”

“Isn’t that rather harsh?” Isabella asked. She thought of Roberto back in Florence, who had only wanted to protect his family and who had defended her during her trial.

“I tried to teach men,” Evelyne said. “They were disrespectful to me and of what I showed them. They used the power they discovered through me to gain riches and oppress the people who needed their help.”

Isabella could think of a couple of men she had known throughout her life who would not act this way when given the opportunities that came along with being a witch. However, she did not want to start an argument with Evelyne and decided to keep her mouth shut and follow the rules.

Since no one tried to say anything after Evelyne had finished, she put on a smile again. “Of course, life here isn’t just made of rules. You will also find solidarity and a family. Everything you could possibly need is provided and you are free to explore your abilities and learn about your strengths and weaknesses at your own pace. The rules are in place to protect and not hinder you.”

“If I may say something,” Florence entered the conversation, “I have already spent some time here. Before that, I was wary of my abilities as a witch and had no idea what I was capable of, even though I was born a witch. But after I had spent more than a year here and was taught by Evelyne and one of the other witches who used to live here, I was able to return to Italy and build up a life for me as a witch. I was able to help you and protect you. So if you are ready to follow the rules, you will learn to achieve great things.”

No one said anything to that. Isabella knew some of them, herself included, had only been searching for a place where they would be safe from the prosecution of the authorities in Italy. They had not signed up for a rigorous training programme. Isabella had thought Florence would teach her about potions every once in a while and apart from that she had thought they would wait for a few months before it was safe enough to return to Italy again and live in their old house or someplace similar. The way Florence had talked, it had sounded as if they were planning on spending at least a year here. 

“I know you all must be overwhelmed at the moment,” Evelyne continued. “I urge you all to rest for a couple of days and explore your new home before you start to learn new things. You’ve been through something horrible and you need time to process everything which has happened to you.”

Isabella felt a bit sick of people telling her to take it easy and rest, but she was also glad she would have a couple of days to get used to everything.

“Feel free to wander around the village and make new acquaintances,” Evelyne closed. “I will send Maggie to you later when your house is ready. She will also show you where the dinner takes place.”

Once on the front porch again, Isabella took a deep breath. She had gone from being a member of one strict institution to living in an authoritarian society where she had to watch every step she took. It would certainly take some time to get used to her new living situation.

Florence took Isabella’s hand in hers and made her jump slightly. “We have a couple of hours to ourselves now. Do you have any idea how we could spend it?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Florence and Isabella have to find a way to pass a couple of hours.

Luckily, their bedroom had curtains, which could be drawn so no one could peak inside at what they were doing. At first, they had to take it slow. When Florence had asked the suggestive question, Isabella had frozen for a second, remembering the last time she had touched Florence and what consequences there had been. The memory of being dragged from the house still was fresh in her mind. Florence could feel how Isabella hesitated and immediately pulled her close.

“I can promise you nothing will happen to you for as long as you’re here,” she whispered. “And if you’ll let me, I will make this an experience that will let you forget what happened in Florence.”

Isabella nodded. She was ready to touch Florence again, but she was also scared something would happen, that she would push her away or shout at her if the memories became too overwhelming. And the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Florence because she would never be able to forgive herself for that.

“I want to try,” Isabella confessed. “I’m not sure if I want to go … all the way, but I want to be touched by you again.”

“You just tell me if I make you uncomfortable,” Florence said with a nod, “and we can stop immediately.”

They walked back to the house in silence. When they reached it, Isabella was glad to discover it was empty. The promises of the village were too enticing to spend the day locked away and the girls must have gone off exploring. Isabella did not mind. The last thing she wanted was to have someone listen in on what they were about to do in the bedroom.

Florence told Isabella to sit on the bed as she closed the curtains and lighted candles on a dresser and next to the bed. Isabella had failed to notice them before but, knowing Florence, she was not sure if she had missed them or if Florence had just conjured them up out of thin air.

“I couldn’t help but notice I made you uncomfortable the other day.” Florence was standing in front of Isabella. Her voice was soft and cautious. “I’m sorry if you were rattled by me undressing in front of you.”

Isabella could not help but grin. “Rattled isn’t the word I would use. Startled maybe. I’m not used to being so open with someone.”

“Is it okay if I undress now?” Florence asked timidly.

“Of course. Sounds interesting.”

Isabella was still anxious and tried to hide her feelings behind snark. However, Florence noticed it immediately. She stepped closer to Isabella until she was standing between her legs and looked down on her.

“I want you to undress me,” she asked of Isabella.

Isabella shivered as Florence took both of her hands and placed it on her chest on the elaborate knot of her dress. As Isabella busied herself with untangling it, she was watched by Florence with curious eyes.

“I’m new to this,” Isabella confessed.

“Undressing someone?”

“Undressing someone who is wearing a dress,” Isabella clarified. “Witch hunters don’t wear dresses. They’re impractical.”

“But they look so nice,” Florence said with a content sigh, “and they’re so easy to get out of quickly in situations like these.”

“This dress isn’t,” Isabella pointed out, still struggling with the knot.

“I’ll wear something easy for you next time,” Florence promised, “like nothing.”

“But there’s no challenge in that. And I like a challenge.”

Florence smirked and glanced down at Isabella’s hands. “Do you need help with your challenge?”

Isabella had finally managed to open the knot and was loosened the strings. “I told you I would manage.”

“You’re doing exceptionally well,” Florence praised her.

Isabella stood up so they were nose to nose and simultaneously raised the dress over Florence’s head. She was glad to discover Florence wore nothing more than thin pants beneath it.

“You’re at an advantage now,” Florence complained.

“Or at a disadvantage. It’s much harder for you to touch me when I’m dressed like this.”

“Maybe I won’t touch you today,” Florence said with a shrug and pressed her lips to Isabella’s. “It all depends on how well you’re performing.”

“Or maybe I want you to touch me,” Isabella whispered against Florence’s lips and led one of Florence’s hands to cup her breast.

As an answer, Florence pushed her down onto the bed and straddled her. They started to make out, with Florence rolling her hips slowly so they were brushing against Isabella’s stomach ever so often. Isabella used her hands to steady herself on the bed, while Florence’s were tangled in Isabella’s hair. Florence began to moan and Isabella could not deny she was definitely getting aroused now.

Then Florence stopped their kiss and looked down in Isabella’s face. “Have you slept with many women?” she asked.

“No,” Isabella answered honestly. “Apart from Laura, there were only two others.”

“And men?” Florence asked next.

“None,” Isabella said with a shrug. “I never liked the idea very much.”

“I thought you had been a heartbreaker back at the Guild,” Florence confessed. “The way Laura was fighting for you …”

Isabella did not particularly want to talk about Laura, especially since she had left her without any help back in Italy.

“Laura was different,” she said, not making eye contact with Florence. “The other two women were short affairs.”

“I’m sorry,” Florence said immediately. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable again.”

“I don’t really want to talk about Laura when you’re straddling me,” Isabella told her with a shrug. “Not after I left her like this.”

“Okay,” Florence nodded. “Can we try something else?”

Isabella gave her permission.

Florence leaned forward. “I want to pin you down,” she whispered into her ear. “I want to undress you slowly and make you feel how _wet_ you’ve made me and I want to tease your nipples with my tongue and your clit with my fingers.”

Isabella shuddered. This sounded very promising.

“I want you to ride my fingers,” she whispered into Florence’s ear. “I want to look at you when you come.”

Florence kissed her again. “Do you want to try these things now?”

Isabella nodded slowly, bracing herself to give herself over to this woman. Florence made her sit up and pulled her shirt over her head and her trousers off her legs. When Isabella was only wearing underwear, Florence took off her pants so she was completely naked. Then she made Isabella lie down and straddled her again. Now that Isabella was lying on her back, it felt as if Florence was completely in control. Florence lowered herself until she was touching Isabella’s stomach and moved her hips across it, so Isabella could feel how turned on Florence already was.

“Did I promise too much?” Florence asked.

“No,” Isabella answered breathlessly.

Florence lowered her head until she was hunched over Isabella and flicked out her tongue to lick one of Isabella’s nipples through the bra. Isabella moaned loudly and raised her upper body so there would be more contact between the wetness of Florence’s tongue and her nipple. Florence got the hint and sucked on Isabella’s nipple, but gripped her hips to hold her down.

“Do you want me to take this off?” Isabella asked, meaning her bra.

“I welcome everything that makes you be dressed less,” Florence said with a smirk, reached underneath Isabella and opened the bra.

Freed, Isabella sank back down and waited for Florence to continue, but Florence had other plans. She took Isabella’s right hand and guided it between her legs.

“Can you feel how wet I am for you?” she moaned.

“Yes,” Isabella breathed. “I want you so much, Flo.”

Florence smiled at Isabella’s words. She led Isabella’s hand to her entrance but waited for Isabella to make the final move. Isabella did not hesitate to push one finger inside.

“More,” Florence demanded immediately, gripping Isabella’s hair.

Carefully, Isabella did as she was told. She was scared of hurting Florence, but Florence only felt pleasure.

“Now fuck me,” she ordered, straightening herself.

Isabella put her free hand on Florence’s hip to steady her and moved her fingers in and out, steadily speeding up until Florence was satisfied. Even though Florence moaned loudly and swore under her breath and even though Isabella’s fingers were slick with Florence’s wetness, she still felt as if she was more turned on by this than Florence. She longed for Florence’s hand between her legs but knew her wish would not yet be granted should she ask for it now. Florence had made it clear from the beginning she was in charge here and that Isabella had to do as she was told.

Isabella could feel Florence getting closer and closer to an orgasm by the way she was clenching around her fingers. Florence began to move in time with Isabella’s fingers and let one hand slowly glide between her own legs, well aware Isabella as watching her attentively. Isabella was sure this was the hottest thing she had ever seen.

“I’m going to come for you,” Florence told her without breaking eye contact, “but only if you ask me nicely.”

“Please,” Isabella said, her voice husky, “please come for me, Flo.”

Florence threw back her head and let out a moan. Isabella could feel her starting to clench around her fingers, but Florence did not stop the hand on her clit. Instead, she teased herself throughout her orgasm.

When Isabella pulled her fingers out of Florence, her mouth was dry from arousal. She had to swallow a couple of times until she was able to feel her tongue again. Florence kissed her carefully, before gripping Isabella’s hand and licking clean the fingers that had been inside of her. Isabella had to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning loudly.

“I think it’s your turn now,” Florence announced, lying down next to Isabella.

She stroked Isabella’s thigh slowly while kissing her softly. A part of Isabella wanted to be fucked like she had just fucked Florence, but another part wanted to take things slow. She let Florence decide what she wanted to do with her and Florence, apparently, was set on teasing her.

“For someone as free-spirited and strong-willed as you, you have no problem taking orders,” Florence whispered against Isabella’s neck before covering it in kisses.

“In my line of work you get in trouble easily if you don’t know when to listen,” Isabella answered, moving her hips impatiently.

“You need to learn about patience,” Florence said, holding Isabella in place. “I will only touch you when I want to.”

Isabella groaned softly but relaxed.

“Tell me,” Florence continued, “are you usually this submissive in bed?”

“Yes,” Isabella answered.

Florence finally pushed her hand into Isabella’s pants and circled her clit with one finger. “Good,” she hissed. Then, “you’re wetter than I had expected.”

Isabella bit her own hand to stop from moaning. Florence gripped that hand and pinned it to the bed.

“I want to hear you, Isa,” she whispered. “No more hiding.”

Isabella stifled another moan as Florence moved her hand lower and teased Isabella’s entrance.

“Moan for me, Isa,” Florence ordered, her voice thick with arousal.

Isabella did as she was told and let go of the restraints in her mind that were holding her back. She began to move her hips to meet Florence’s hand and moaned loudly, gripping a pillow next to her.

“That’s what I want to hear,” Florence nodded approvingly.

She pushed a finger inside of Isabella and teased her while licking her nipple again. Isabella watched as Florence’s tongue darted out, circled her nipple and licked it once. It was maddening torture but Isabella hoped it would never stop. Only when she felt herself coming closer and closer to a climax did she realise how much she had missed being intimate with someone and the thought of Florence touching her like this whenever they felt like was almost enough to make her come.

“Do you want to come?” Florence asked in a soft voice.

“Yes, please,” Isabella moaned, digging her nails into Florence’s shoulder.

Instead of teasing her again, as she had anticipated, Florence pulled her finger out of Isabella and moved her hand over her clit. Isabella’s hips jerked forward, which made Florence grin in satisfaction. With a shout, Isabella came, and Florence let her hand rest, feeling Isabella pulse beneath her.

“Fuck,” Isabella sighed, letting her head fall back. “I wouldn’t mind you doing this to me every day.”

Florence could not stop grinning. “I’m sure we’ll find the time,” she said, “but only if you promise me to study hard.”

“I’ll do anything if you touch me like that again.”

“Good.” Florence clapped her hands together. “We should take a shower and then pack our things, so we’ll be ready to move.”

Isabella blushed. “What if someone sees us showering together?”

“It’s not as if this relationship is a secret,” Florence shrugged.

It was the first time Florence had called the thing between them a relationship and it made Isabella pause for a moment.

“Don’t look so shocked. If they haven’t figured it out by now, they’re blind,” Florence said, misinterpreting Isabella’s silence.

“That’s not what I was thinking about,” Isabella said slowly, taking Florence’s hand into hers. “You called it a relationship.”

“What else should I call it?” It sounded like an honest question, neither teasingly nor judgingly.

“I hadn’t considered using this word yet,” Isabella admitted. “But it sounds right, doesn’t it?” She smiled warmly.

“I wasn’t expecting you to take it well,” Florence admitted. “I thought, maybe after Laura you were reluctant to enter into another relationship.”

“Not when it feels as right as this.” She took a deep breath. “Immediately after I had seen you in my dream for the first time I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I just wanted to be with you and no one else.”

“This wasn’t the intended effect of that dream, but I’m glad it worked out this way,” Florence said. She paused. “So is it okay if I say we’re in a relationship?”

“Yes, of course,” Isabella answered, pulling Florence close for a kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Florence and Isabella have a long talk about the dangers of witchcraft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay, I completely forgot to update on Friday and I was busy yesterday. But I wish you all a happy new year <3

The next couple of days were dedicated to moving into their new home and settling in. It was a much bigger house than the one they had stayed in at the beginning, with ensuite bathrooms for every room and a much bigger living area with comfortable sofas and more cushions than Isabella could count.

She and Florence shared a room on the top floor, which had its own balcony, just like Florence’s room back in Italy. At first, Isabella had been reluctant to move into that room, considering what had happened the last time when she had slept in one easily accessible from the outside. But after she had spent a morning on the balcony wrapped in Florence’s arm, a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, she had agreed this arrangement had its perks.

Florence still made sure that they all took the time they needed to adjust to this new situation and leave behind what had happened in Italy. For a week, she let the girls wander around the village, getting acquainted with the other witches and making friends. Isabella explored the village as well, sometimes accompanying Nora, sometimes on her own. From the first short look she was sure there was not much to see, but with every day that passed, she discovered new things.

There was a small forest in the valley; the trees looked entirely different from the ones in Florence, but Isabella immediately felt at home there and knew where she would be going if she ever needed a place to relax. Together with Nora, she found the source of the stream, which ran through the village. It came straight out of the side of the mountain, a tiny opening, not even big enough to fit a hand into. When they followed it to its other end, they discovered it disappeared into a mountain, but the opening was much bigger. When they asked Maggie if this did not pose a threat to their security, Maggie answered that this entrance to the valley was protected by spells, just like everything else.

One building in the village was a library and they were welcome to take any book they wanted from it. Isabella picked up a book on potions the day after they had moved into the house, determined to learn more about them as she had started to in Florence. She also skimmed the library for books on history – from a witch’s perspective, naturally – but did not find anything. There was still a voice at the back of her mind, which told her to find out more about conflicts between witches. The library, however, was not the right place to find this kind of information.

They also attended the dinners now, where the whole village came together at the end of the day. Even though they were being taught in their houses, every time during dinner, the witches mixed and mingled and there was no animosity or rivalry between them.

One evening after dinner, as it was already dark in the village, Isabella asked Florence if they could take a walk together because there was something she needed to talk about. Florence, at first, seemed reluctant to agree, but followed Isabella along a torch-lit path toward the plateau where their food was grown.

“I have a general question about witches,” Isabella opened, keeping an eye on the path because it was hard to make out the way surrounded by flickering light.

“Oh, good,” Florence said with a sigh of relief. “I thought it was something serious, like you breaking up with me.”

Isabella snorted. “Nothing like that, no.”

“What was it then?”

“It’s about what you said to us before we came here,” Isabella went on, “and about what Evelyne said when she led us through the village. It’s about how we should keep away from powerful witches and not learn things we’re not strong enough to master yet. I’m not sure if I understood you both right?”

“Every witch has her own method of teaching and if you mix methods, your students can get confused,” Florence answered evasively.

“So every untrained witch here came with a teacher, like us?” Isabella continued. “And even though they’ve been here for ages, they’re still not a fully trained witch?”

“Yes and no. Some people arrived only a couple of weeks ago, others have been here for years. Learning to be a witch is a lengthy process; it can take a lifetime.”

“But what’s so dangerous about having several teachers?” Isabella followed up her question. “Does it really make a difference if I learn how to brew potions from you or from Maggie?”

“Not yet it wouldn’t,” Florence answered, her voice distant. “You haven’t properly started your training yet. But for someone like Lisa, for example, it could have fatal consequences.”

“But why?”

“Because magic is dangerous if you can’t control it properly. And if you started to learn it one way, getting it confused with another could have unforeseeable consequences.”

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t get it.”

They had reached the plateau. The light there was different. The spell simulated a sunset and as they climbed up the path, it became softer and brighter. It was still warm and Isabella shrugged out of the jacket Florence had given her during the journey.

“What don’t you get?” Florence asked with a sigh. “I don’t think I’ll be able to explain to you the fundaments of magic tonight. It takes more time than a short walk.”

“I have a different theory,” Isabella went on. “I was looking for an answer in the library but couldn’t find one. Evelyne emphasised that it was important for young, impressionable girls to stay away from more experienced witches. And I wanted to ask you if there had been problems in the past with older witches teaching younger witches dangerous, and maybe illegal, things.”

“Are you asking me if evil witches exist?” Florence voice had turned cold and even though the weather was nice up on the plateau, Isabella felt a chill.

“Yes,” Isabella answered honestly, “but not in the way witch hunters are making people believe witches are evil, but in the way witches think witches are evil.”

“There have always been tensions between certain kinds of witches, yes,” Florence answered, “but they’re not trying to steal girls to turn them to the dark side, or whatever it is you are suggesting.”

“That not what I mean. You were telling me earlier how dangerous magic is and I was thinking, maybe if someone wanted to build their own community of witches, to whatever end, they would start by teaching young girls who don’t yet know what magic can do and who can be easily manipulated.”

Florence sighed again, but it did not sound so cold this time. “There was a case a couple of years ago where a witch began teaching witches from several houses around the village to get them to try out new spells and methods she had developed after her own girls refused to have anything to do with her. It wasn’t necessarily dark magic she was trying to teach them, just resurrecting the dead and violent spells with which you could kill people instantly.”

“And you don’t consider that dark magic?” Isabella asked in surprise.

“Believe me, Isa, there are much darker things on this world than resurrecting the dead,” Florence answered with a shake of her head. “But still, it was enough for her students to not trust her any longer, so they left the village. Of course, there are always people who will follow such a person, no matter what, and soon she had won over younger girls from other houses.”

“And their teachers let them go just like that?”

“Of course not. She was teaching them in secret, which made matters worse. Back then, we didn’t have strict teaching rules like today, and still she decided it was better to teach dangerous magic in secret, without the possibility to get help if something went wrong.”

“Did something go wrong?” Isabella dared to ask.

“Not at first. The only discernible difference was that the girls gained more self-confidence and performed better in class, so no one could complain. But a couple of months after they had started learning new methods, they were beginning to get reckless. They were attempting dangerous spells more and more, spells that exceeded their abilities as witches by far. Still, they were pushed by their teacher to learn things that were much too dangerous for them to comprehend.”

“How did it end?” Isabella asked, dreading Florence’s answer.

“Not well, as you can probably imagine,” Florence said with a bitter laugh. “One of the girls died because she attempted a spell much too advanced for her. She was pushed into it by her teacher, the one person who should have looked out for her. But she was promised a place by her side and was blinded by the promises of a future full of power. This is why magic is dangerous and only if we take great care in teaching can we prevent something like this from happening again.”

“What happened to the witch?” Isabella asked.

“They tried to execute her, of course,” Florence answered. “Someone who endangers so many lives has to be dealt with appropriately. But she escaped.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, probably by using one of her own spells,” Florence answered with a shrug. “The point is that Evelyne doesn’t tolerate anyone like her anymore, which includes teaching students you weren’t meant to teach.”

“So she’s still alive?” Isabella wanted to know.

“We don’t know for certain. This happened quite a long time ago, but I guess it’s possible that she’s still alive somewhere. She’s probably developed a spell to help her stay alive.”

“And no one ever went looking for her?”

“No,” Florence admitted. “We never heard from her again and we thought it would be best not to meddle with her as long as she stays quiet.”

“So she could still be out there, teaching young girls this dangerous magic you’re so afraid of?”

“Yes,” Florence nodded, “but so far I haven’t met a single witch who was able to do what she’s doing, so I’m fairly confident she hasn’t found any more pupils.”

“Are the things she teaches really so bad?” Isabella asked, thinking about all the witches she had killed and wishing she could take it back. “Wouldn’t it make life easier if we could bring back loved ones?”

“Would it really?” Florence asked. “You might feel like this when someone you’re close to dies, but in the long run, isn’t it better to experience such an integral part of life? And maybe, after you’ve lived long enough you feel death comes as a relief to you.”

“Still, what about accidents? What about terminal illnesses?” Isabella went on. “What if your six-year-old child is killed by a car and you could bring them back? Wouldn’t you do it?”

Florence thought about this for a long while. “I’m not sure I would,” she admitted. “I don’t want to say my child was only on this world to teach me something about loss, but I still think there is a reason why she was hit by a car. It’s more dangerous then beneficial if we mess with these powers.”

“What about what Evelyne said when she led us around the village? She said witches are almost extinct now. What if you could bring them back and save your community from extinction?”

Florence shook her head violently. “I wouldn’t do it. Maybe the witches’ time on this earth is coming to an end. You can never predict what is coming after that.”

Isabella sighed heavily. “Still, there’s a couple of people I would like to bring back and I don’t think I would be hesitant to use these powers. I wish there was a way I could bring back the witches I killed.”

“Killing them led you to me,” Florence said in a tiny voice. “I’m not saying this justifies your actions, but you wouldn’t have been able to see what you are doing is wrong if you hadn’t killed them.”

“That’s a big sacrifice to make just for the benefit of me improving as a human being.”

“What’s done is done, Isa.” Florence put an arm around her. “It’s no use wishing you could change the past because you can’t. On the other hand, your regret drives you forward and inspires you to improve the world. You helped us all escape from Italy, you had no reservations about joining us, and I think you would pick us no matter what. That is your way of showing you’re sorry for all the death and destruction you caused. You don’t need to bring them back – what you’re doing now is enough.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New witches arrive at the village with news about the Americans.

The morning after their talk, Florence decided to start with their classes. In the basement of their house, there were several classrooms, which could be used for teaching. At first, Isabella was fearful that the rooms would be cold and damp, but similar to the plateau, they were illuminated by magic lighting and she could not have told they were underground except for the complete lack of windows.

Florence asked the girls in the morning what they wanted to focus on and Isabella signed up for the potions class. Three afternoons a week, Florence would teach her, together with eight others, how to brew potions and how to use them effectively. The rest of the time they could use however she wanted, but Florence told them with a wink that there was much more to brewing potions than learning about it in class.

During her first lesson, Isabella realised how much she had missed going to school and learning new things. Of course, the lesson could not be compared to the one Florence had given her in Italy. It was less flirty and more authoritative than Isabella’s previous experience had been. Still, she enjoyed watching Florence in front of a class, reading them from a potions book and writing on a blackboard.

The first couple of weeks would only be theoretical and after they had passed an exam, they would be allowed to try to brew easy potions where not much could go wrong. The other girls in the class could not wait for the practical aspects of the course, but Isabella was content to learn from the book and listen to Florence’s explanations. Everything she learned was new to her and she wanted to enjoy learning about a field she had previously condemned.

It became obvious now they were near the Arctic Circle. Every day, the sun rose later and sunk earlier until they had reached a point when it did not rise at all. Isabella, who liked sunny weather, had trouble adjusting at first, but spending time in the classroom with the simulated sunlight helped a bit. Evelyne had also started to use artificial dawn light during their daily feasts, which improved everyone’s moods considerably.

About a month after they had arrived, a new group of witches joined them in the village. They had come from Germany, where their home in the middle of the mountains had been raided by an American special task force. When Florence heard their story, she immediately asked Maggie if she could speak with them. Isabella was weary at the prospect of discovering the Americans were still hunting them, but followed Florence to the house they had occupied in the beginning, to talk to a small, older witch with glasses.

Her name was Michaela. She had lived with her group near the Austrian border, relatively unbothered by the locals, until a group of Americans had arrived. They asked around the local village if there were witches nearby because they were hunting for a group of them who had fled Italy after murdering the mayor of Florence and abducting his daughter.

After hearing these words, Isabella was sure Victoria and the others were still trying to catch them and their chances of returning to Italy soon were slim.

“The people in the village never had much trouble with us, but when they realised we might be helping fugitives who had committed serious crimes, they led them straight to us,” Michaela continued her story. “They were surprisingly nice at first and just asked everyone questions. I didn’t trust them much. The people in the village being unfazed by our presence was one thing, but those Americans treating us so nicely was highly suspicious.

“It turned out I was right to suspect them. For the night, I hid everyone in the cellar of my house. The Americans came back with guns and torches, setting our little village on fire and asking me to hand over my girls so they could be questioned more effectively. I refused and they took me into custody, exclaiming they would only let me go if my girls gave me up.”

“They also caught me,” Florence told her. “You failed them in no way.”

Michaela swallowed heavily and continued. “Of course my girls were scared to death and there was no question what they would do. They didn’t hesitate to leave their hiding place and come to the Americans to talk to them. Instead of acting friendly like they had the day before, they immediately bound my girls and held them at the police station, where they were also holding me. One by one, they were taken to be interrogated and came back crying, sometimes even bruised. I told the Americans we didn’t know anything about witches from Italy every time they came to take another girl, but they didn’t listen to me.”

“How did you escape?” Isabella asked breathlessly. Her heart clenched at the thought of her actions having caused even more pain and destructions.

“We didn’t,” Michaela answered. “After they were satisfied that we didn’t know anything, they left us to rot at the police station. By then, several days had passed and we hadn’t been given food and almost no water. The Americans told the people in the village the best plan of action was to kill us before we could do any more damage. Luckily for us, they left straight after that, convinced the villagers would deal with us. Instead of listening to the Americans, they set us free but chased us away, telling us we should find another place to live or they would come and finish what the Americans had started.”

“And so you came here,” Isabella finished the story.

“Yes,” Michaela nodded.

“I am so sorry,” Florence said quietly. “This is all my fault. We are the witches they are looking for.”

“I figured,” Michaela said with a sad smile. “And it’s not your fault. If those people chased you away from where you were living, just like they chased us, then it’s not your fault.”

“They didn’t chase us,” Isabella answered.

“We really did kill the mayor,” Florence added, “and abducted his daughter.”

Michaela’s eyes widened. “But why?”

Florence told her what had happened in Italy and what she had been trying to do. Michaela’s eyes grew sadder and sadder the longer Florence talked, but once she was finished, she told them they had done the right thing.

“This mayor must have been a horrible person if he hired those Americans,” she said. “I can only imagine what they would have done to his daughter, had they caught her.”

“Still, it saddens me that you lost your home because of us,” Florence added, “and I don’t want to think about how many more will follow you.”

Isabella had other worries. “But what if they find us here?” she asked. “What if one of the witches they interrogate along the way breaks and tells them about this place?”

“No one would ever do that,” Florence answered forcefully. “No witch would give up hundreds of others to save her life.”

Michaela, however, looked worried.

“What?” Florence asked her.

“Nothing,” Michaela answered. “I just think they’re enough witches you wouldn’t hesitate to give us up if their lives were spared. And those Americans are really intimidating.”

“No, I refuse to believe that,” Florence said firmly. “They would be endangering hundreds of witches to save themselves. No one could be that selfish.”

Isabella looked just as worried as Florence. “I’m not sure, Flo,” she said slowly. “I had good reasons not to give you up, but witches who don’t know you - wouldn’t you do anything to protect the girls?”

“I would, but not if it meant endangering other witches.”

“Let’s just hope we’ll be safe here,” Michaela sighed. “I’ve only heard good things about this place, so I don’t think they should be able to get to us here.”

“I would be prepared for the worst,” Isabella pointed out. “They have science and technology on their side, and they are ruthless. They don’t care who they kill if it gets them what they want.”

“Should we leave?” Florence asked out of the blue.

Isabella stared at her in shock. “Do you mean this safe place?” she asked for clarification.

“I don’t want to endanger the others,” Florence explained, “and if it’s me they’re after, I’m sure we will find another place to hide.”

“Absolutely not,” Michaela answered. “We all deserve protection. And I don’t think they would spare us, should they ever find this place, not even when you’re not here.”

“We shouldn’t have come here,” Florence lamented.

“All we have to do is be prepared,” Isabella encouraged her. “You have me, don’t forget that, and I know how witch hunters work. I can go immediately to Evelyne and speak to her, see if we can’t make this place even more secure than it already is.”

*

Evelyne listened to Isabella’s concerns, but as soon as she was finished, she brushed them off.

“This is one of the four most protected places in the world,” she said. “No one has ever managed to get through our protection, and no one ever will.”

Isabella tried to talk to her, tried to make her see sense, but it was futile. Evelyne would not listen to her, or even Florence, when she tried to talk to her once Isabella had returned with the bad news. In the end, they agreed on doubling the guards, but that was it.

Secretly, Isabella hoped other witches would seek refuge with them, chased here by the ever-advancing Americans, so Evelyne would be forced to admit she had been wrong. Isabella was sure the Americans had planes or helicopters, which would be able to fly over the mountains, penetrating the web of magic surrounding them. Evelyne, however, did not believe this kind of technology had been invented and refused to be intimidated by this very real threat.

Michaela and her girls were welcomed without hesitation, just as they had been a month ago. They were assigned their own house and within their first week at the village, Florence visited them several times, called there by a sense of duty. After all, she still felt it was her fault they had lost their home and she had to try to make amends. Since the rules of the village forbade her from teaching Michaela’s girls, Florence had to find other ways to show her remorse.

She helped Michaela wherever she could. She helped them adjust to the life at the village, sent some of her girls over to Michaela’s house so her girls had someone to talk to. Isabella admired Florence for her actions, but felt unable to do similar things, mostly because she felt she did not have the right to interfere.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella's worst fears come true when she is bullied by the German witches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, it was my girlfriend's birthday this weekend and also one of my old fandoms came back to haunt me.

It all started a couple of weeks after they had arrived at the village. Isabella had suspected it from the very beginning, but only after Michaela had arrived did someone actually have a reason to hate her. One afternoon she was walking through the village and a couple of girls, whom she recognised as Michaela’s by their German accents, began to snigger behind her back. Isabella was used to young girls laughing at her and had stop worrying about their reasons years ago. However, when the sniggering followed her around the village, she grew wary.

In the evening, while she was cuddled up to Florence, she mentioned what had happened.

“I’m sure it was nothing,” Florence said, stroking Isabella’s hair. “They were probably just having a good time. They need every distraction they can get.”

Isabella let herself be appeased by Florence, but paid close attention over the next couple of days to see if it would happen again.

Sure enough, two days later she ran into the same group of girls. This time, they were not laughing, but stared at her with wide eyes, not letting her out of their sight. Isabella felt so uncomfortable by the constant attention she received she sneaked back to the house and hid upstairs in the bedroom where she closed the curtains so no one could see her.

She could not explain why she was so bothered by them staring at her. After all, people had stared when they had arrived first, and this was not any different. Michaela’s girls were new here and they had maybe heard one or two stories about Isabella and were interested in her. Nevertheless, Isabella could not forget the look in their eyes, which had been one of shock and mistrust.

This time, she did not tell Florence about the incident, sure she would downplay it again. A few scared girls was nothing she could not handle. Maybe going to Michaela and talking to her if the behaviour did not stop was a possibility to resolve this situation. But before she took such drastic measures, Isabella wanted to speak to the girls.

She did not even have to keep a lookout for them. The very next day, she ran into them. They were sitting on a rock formation near the river and as soon as they spotted her, they crossed their arms in front of their chests and began to mumble something to one another. Isabella decided then and there to face the matter headfirst and to walk over there to talk to them.

“Excuse me,” she addressed the group. “I couldn’t help but notice we seem to be running into each other frequently and you seem to be interested in me and I wanted to ask you if there’s something you want to tell me.”

The girls made a point of not seeing her, continuing to talk in whispers to one another and not making eye contact. Isabella, however, did not want to lose her temper.

“I know coming to this place can be overwhelming,” she continued. “I myself arrived here only a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been trying to adjust to the life here ever since. So if there’s anything I can do for you, I’m happy to help.”

“It’s no wonder she would have troubles adjusting,” one of the girls said loudly.

She was about Nora’s age, no older than 20, with dark-brown hair and a slightly upturned nose.

“Excuse me?” Isabella asked, pretending not to have understood her properly.

The girl continued to ignore her and went on. “Look at her standing there, thinking she belongs with us.”

Isabella froze on the spot. She had been afraid this was what their hostility was about, but hearing it voiced so clearly made her shudder.

“Excuse me?” she repeated.

The girl did not say anything more, only glared at her with mistrust and hatred written all over her face.

“Leave us alone,” another girl demanded, “or we’ll tell Michaela and have you thrown out.”

Isabella rolled her eyes, acting as if she was not affected by their words. She shrugged and turned away from them, walking towards Michaela’s house in the hope she would find Florence there and could tell her what had just happened.

“Stay away from us,” someone shouted after her and a stone was thrown which landed near her feet.

Isabella began to walk faster and this seemed to appease the girls. All she heard now was them laughing, and even though it hurt her just as much as their words had, she felt safer knowing laughter could not do any serious physical harm.

Florence was not at Michaela’s house, but when Michaela saw the look on Isabella’s face, she immediately asked her what was wrong.

“Nothing,” Isabella assured her quickly, not wanting to worry Michaela about her girls before she had talked to Florence.

“You look dreadful,” Michaela continued. “Can I offer you anything to drink? Tea, coffee? Florence said she would come by later, maybe you could just wait for her here.”

Isabella did not want to wait because she was scared Michaela would get her to tell her what had happened. She also did not want to go back outside where the girls were for fear of running into them again. In the end, she decided to wait for Florence with Michaela, sure this was the lesser of two evils.

Michaela brought her herbal tea and a slice of cake and they waited for Florence while exchanging mundane pleasantries about life at the village. Michaela told her she was very impressed by the library and the teaching facilities, while Isabella talked about the security measures.

They each drank two cups of tea before Florence arrived. Her face was reddened from the cold air outside and her hair looked dishevelled from the wind. Isabella jumped up immediately to greet her and Florence looked at her in surprise.

“What are you doing here, Isa?” she asked, taking off her coat. “Is everything all right?”

“No, actually,” Isabella admitted. “I wanted to tell you in private first, but it sort of also affects Michaela.”

She glanced back over her shoulder at were Michaela was standing, who raised her eyebrows in surprise at Isabella’s words.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Could we sit down maybe?” Isabella asked, pointing at the comfortable sofa she had been sitting on with Michaela for the last hour.

Florence nodded and the three of them sat, Isabella on one side, facing the other two.

“It’s about some of your girls,” Isabella started slowly, addressing Michaela.

“Has something happened to them?” Michaela asked worriedly, sounding a tiny bit reproachful at Isabella not having mentioned anything earlier.

“No, they’re fine,” Isabella assured her quickly. “I’ve been meeting a small group of them across the village often lately.”

“Yes, you told me,” Florence interrupted her. “We’re they laughing at you again?”

“Laughing at you?” Michaela echoed.

“Yes, at first they were laughing at me,” Isabella clarified. “I wasn’t even sure if they were laughing _at_ me, I just heard them laughing. But then they started staring at me and following me around. Today, I saw them again and decided to talk to them and even though they ignored me completely, apart from throwing a stone at me, it transpired they thought I didn’t deserve to be here and should be thrown out.”

“I’m sure you misunderstood them,” Michaela said immediately.

Florence, however, did not dismiss Isabella’s fears that quickly. “Are you sure that’s what they said?” she asked, a serious tone to her voice.

“Something along those lines, yes,” Isabella confirmed.

Florence jumped up and turned to Michaela. “We have to do something about this immediately. Such behaviour cannot go unpunished. Would you be able to recognise them?”

“Sure,” Isabella shrugged.

Michaela was less on board with this idea. “Wait a minute,” she said. “I cannot punish my girls just because someone accuses them of something. Are there any witnesses?”

“I hope not,” Florence said determinately. “If they watched Isabella being insulted without helping her, they should be punished too.”

Isabella shook her head, both at Michaela’s question and Florence’s overreaction. “No, there weren’t any witnesses, at least not today. I don’t know if someone noticed them following me around the village though.”

“You need to talk to them,” Florence addressed Michaela. “If you don’t, I’ll do it and I won’t be as nice to them as you. Isabella is here under Evelyne’s protection. No one has the right to cast her out.”

“I’m sure they didn’t mean it that way,” Michaela said slowly, trying to appease Florence. “They’re still upset and tired from the journey. Let me talk to them and see what’s going on. What did they look like?”

Isabella gave her a description of the girl who had done most of the talking and Michaela nodded.

“Yes, that’s Ulli,” she said with a nod. “She’s been very upset about us losing our home and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s looking for someone to blame. I can promise you, I will talk to her.”

Isabella was not convinced something would change for the better, but she chose to accept this and wait what would happen next. Florence was not ready to let this matter go so fast.

“If something happens again, I will talk to her myself,” she told Michaela. “There is no room here for people who are trying to exclude their own kind.”

“I’m sure this wasn’t what Ulli was trying to do,” Michaela assured Florence. “I bet it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Nevertheless.” Isabella drew a deep breath. “Can I stay here with you until Florence has finished? I don’t really feel like going back out there.”

Michaela agreed and Isabella made herself comfortable while Florence and Michaela disappeared through the cellar door. Isabella herself thought she was overreacting. What harm could a couple of young girls really do? But this was the first time someone tried to chase her away from somewhere she felt she belonged and it unsettled her. She did not feel innocent and knew the girls had more reason to want her to leave than she had reason to stay. Nevertheless, even though she was trained in different kinds of combat and had experienced numerous stressful situations, she was at a loss here. This was the first time she felt she was not in the right and was scared of others hurting her.

When Florence was finished, they walked back to their house together. Isabella kept glancing over her shoulder and only when Florence took her hand and walked purposefully did she stop.

“No matter what, I’m going to defend you,” Florence promised her. “Even if it means going after my own kind. You did the same for me.”

“Please, don’t hurt them,” Isabella asked of her. “They’re right to be scared of me. Witch hunters just held them captive and tortured them and they were chased away. I would be wary of anyone who has any affiliation with witch hunters, no matter what kind.”

“You are a witch now,” Florence emphasised, “and if they don’t want to accept that, _they_ should be chased away.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella and Florence are attacked by Michaela's girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay (again), but this time it's a really long chapter.

That night, Isabella was woken by a strange sound coming in from the outside. Florence was fast asleep next to her, so she got up carefully. She walked over to the window and glanced outside. It was dark, as always, but since the torches had gone out as well, Isabella could tell it was the middle of the night. At first, she could not see anything, due to the thick darkness surrounding the house. Then she saw a shadow move somewhere below and strained her eyes to make out details. It could have been anything, from a fox to the Americans and she would not be able to tell from up here. Then she heard the sound again, a rustling noise followed by a heavy thud. She decided it was no use and she had to go downstairs and see what was going on or she would not be able to fall asleep again.

She slipped into the jacket Florence and given her and crept downstairs without turning on the lights. Spending her days in relative darkness had made her get used to living with sparse lighting and she found her way without trouble. The house was completely silent, but the further down she went, the clearer she could hear the sounds from outside. Once she had reached the living room, she felt regret at not having woken Florence up because she suddenly felt a chill when she thought about what she would find outside. But she also did not want to turn back now, and so she walked quickly to the front door and opened it.

At first, she could not see anything. The sounds had also quieted down and none of the shadows moved. But when she walked further outside to look around, she slipped on something wet. Since it had not rained in days, Isabella could not explain where the water was coming from. When she looked at her feet, the substance she saw there looked different than water, which left her puzzled.

She reached inside and groped for a candle which they kept near the door. Lighting it with a match, she blinked against the sudden light and kneeled down. The substance appeared dark red in the light of the candle and when she touched it, she had no doubt it was blood. She tried to recall if someone had hurt themselves or if they had spilled blood while carrying it inside to refresh their supplies.

When she turned toward the door to look for more signs, she saw someone had written something on the door, and realised suddenly why there was blood on the doorstep. Without looking too closely, she was sure to be able to tell what this was about.

The writing on the door read _witch killer_.

Even though Isabella had seen this coming, she still felt stunned at seeing it there in writing. For a few seconds, she could neither move nor breathe and just stared at the door. The words were given an even eerier atmosphere since the candle flickered in a cold gust of wind. Isabella shivered and turned around, again staring at the darkness in the hope of catching the perpetrators. When the darkness remained as impenetrable as before, Isabella moved back inside and closed the door with a thud.

The shaking candle in one hand, she climbed back upstairs, stumbling over her own feet more than once. She had to tell Florence immediately and they could maybe go and wake up Evelyne and the girls who had done this could be dealt with.

“Florence?” she whispered as she reached the bedroom.

She heard a grunt from the bed, but there was no answer beside this.

“Are you awake?” Isabella continued.

When Florence did not move, Isabella walked over to the bed and touched a part of the blanket she suspected of covering Florence’s shoulder. Florence turned over and continued to sleep.

Isabella began to shake Florence’s shoulder. “Wake up, Florence, please.”

Her voice was shaking now and she felt the shock of what she had seen catch up with her.

Florence blinked and opened her eyes. “Go back to bed, Isa,” she yawned.

“The girls vandalised our front door,” Isabella told her quickly. “Come and see, please.”

“What are you doing up?” Florence asked her, not having understood what she had just said.

“I heard a sound and went downstairs to investigate and they vandalised our front door,” Isabella told her again, her words a mere rush.

Florence was more awake now. “What?” she asked, not so much because she needed clarification but because she could not believe what Isabella had told her.

“I had the feeling the girls weren’t as harmless as Michaela made them sound,” Isabella confessed. “They wrote _witch killer_ on our front door in blood.”

“We need to wash it off before the girls wake up.” Florence sat up. “I don’t want them to know about this. I don’t want to create any tension in the village.”

“Sure,” Isabella nodded, not caring about how they dealt with this situation as long as it was dealt with.

“Is it just the front door?” Florence asked.

“I don’t know,” Isabella admitted. “As soon as I saw the blood, I came back upstairs to tell you about it.”

The thought that the girls had vandalised more than the front door had not occurred to her yet. Considering she had heard sounds below their window and it was at the back of the house, she would not be surprised to find more graffiti there.

Florence was pulling her coat over her shoulders and took Isabella’s hand into hers. “I promise you, this is the last time something like this happens,” she said quietly. “They overstepped a boundary and I’ll make sure they’re dealt with.”

She kissed Isabella to encourage her, but it only had the effect that Isabella started to cry in front of her. Her sobs echoed in the room and were ear-splitting in the silence of the house.

“Isa, are you okay?” Florence asked her, pulling back immediately.

Isabella buried her head in her hands to shield her face from Florence. She had never cried in front of her and was afraid of Florence judging her because she was shaken up by this small occurrence.

But Florence did not tell her to calm down or urged her to stop crying so they could get to work. Instead, she pulled Isabella close and held her in her arms, stroking her hair, until she had calmed down, at least as much as it was possible in this situation. Isabella did not want Florence to let go, so she remained standing in her arms, hoping Florence would hold her for as long as she needed it.

Only when Isabella began to stir to wipe away the tears on her face did Florence pull back her arms.

“I’m sorry,” Isabella said, her voice raw from crying.

“Don’t be,” Florence whispered. “I know how you feel. Every witch knows how you feel.”

Isabella nodded.

“Do you feel up to going back downstairs or do you want me to go?” Florence asked carefully.

“I’ll be fine,” Isabella said with a nod. “It might be good for me if I distract myself with some work.”

Florence nodded. “But the moment you don’t want to help me anymore, you tell me, okay?”

Isabella promised to do so and they walked back downstairs in the dark. Florence seemed to have eyes like a cat because she moved around as if it was day. Isabella followed her carefully, still shaky from having cried so much just minutes ago.

When they reached the front door, Florence cupped her hands and an orb of light began to form there. Once it had reached the size of Isabella’s fist, it stopped growing and floated in front of Florence’s face. Florence repeated this twice until she was satisfied with the three orbs of light. She opened the door and stepped outside and the orbs followed her.

“Yes,” Florence said with a hiss. “It doesn’t look nice.”

Isabella remained standing on the inside, not yet ready to follow Florence. “Do you want me to get a bucket with water so we can wash it off?” she asked.

“Isa, we’re witches,” Florence reminded her.

She raised her hand as if she was holding an invisible rag and moved it across the door. After a couple of swipes, she took a step back and looked at her work.

“I think that’ll do,” she said, waving for Isabella to join her.

Isabella did as she was told and was glad to discover the writing had vanished.

“Shall we take a look around the house and see if there’s any more?” Florence asked her.

Accompanied by the two orbs, Isabella followed Florence into the dark Swedish night. Immediately after they had left the house, they spotted a line of blood on the wall, leading them to the back of the house. As they moved along, Florence repeated the movement and the red substance vanished under her hands.

When they reached the back of the house, were Isabella had heard the strange sounds, Florence stopped.

“Who’s there?” she asked into the darkness.

Isabella looked around nervously but could not spot anyone.

But then a disembodied voice answered her question. “We had hoped Isabella would come on her own,” it said.

Isabella recognised Ulli’s voice from earlier today.

“What do you want with her?” Florence asked.

“Make her pay for what she’s done,” Ulli answered.

Isabella wanted to move back a couple of steps, but Florence grabbed the fabric of her jacket and did not let go.

“Go home,” Florence said quietly. “There’s nothing here for you.”

“But she’s standing right behind you,” Ulli pointed out. “Give her to us and nothing will happen to you.”

Florence posture changed. Her shoulders tensed and she drew herself up to her full height.

“Who do you think you are that you can make demands like this?” she asked in a calm tone of voice that sent a shiver down Isabella’s spine. “You are a girl without any authority.”

“I speak on behalf of all the witches who have been hurt by a witch killer like her,” Ulli explained.

“You do not speak for me,” Florence said in the same tone of voice.

That made Ulli go quiet.

“Leave us now and stop this childish behaviour,” Florence went on. “If you don’t, I’ll make sure you will be thrown out.”

From behind her, someone pulled on Isabella’s jacket and she stumbled backwards.

“I’ve got her,” someone shouted into her ear.

Isabella struggled against the hands holding her and broke free only to be grabbed again immediately.

“Help,” she shouted, but Florence had already turned around.

“An attack on a fellow witch is punishable by death,” she exclaimed, the calmness in her voice gone.

“It’s debatable she’s a witch,” Ulli pointed out. “I don’t think Michaela will punish us.”

“But I will,” Florence said slowly. “I will not rest until I have found and killed every single one of you.”

Isabella was used to Florence exaggerating in the things she proclaimed, but this time she did not doubt Florence was not only threatening the girls, but she would make her promise come true.

The person who was holding Isabella punched her in the small of the back and made her cry out in pain. Florence shot forward, but out of the darkness came four girls who surrounded her and did not let her come close to Isabella.

Isabella was punched again and fell to the ground. What followed next was a series of painful kicks. Isabella rolled herself into a ball to protect her head and stomach, but soon lost all her strength and only wished the pain would stop.

When she felt the floor rumble, she was sure it was because she felt faint and would lose her consciousness any second now. But then the kicks stopped as the girls retreated in fear. Isabella opened her eyes and saw the blurred image of Florence in the middle of a fiery circle.

“You were warned,” Florence said in a deep, booming voice.

An arrow of fire shot toward Isabella, crossed her, and found its target, judging by the screams. Soon, fiery arrows filled the air and the screams echoed around the village, amplified by the silence of the night. Isabella tried to crawl out of the line of fire but could not move. Her whole body ached from the kicks and her ears echoed with the screams.

When Florence finally stopped, Isabella thought she had changed her mind and did not want to go through with her threat to kill Ulli and her friends. But when Isabella heard Evelyne’s voice, she realised it was the older witch who had made Florence stop.

“Florence, stop it,” Evelyne shouted somewhere from behind Isabella.

Isabella felt sick when the smell of burning flesh filled her nose and was reminded of the countless times she had watched as a witch had burned to death right in front of her eyes. There was a commotion behind her, but Isabella could not tell what was happening because she had to throw up right at that very moment. Then she rolled onto her back and tried to take a deep breath but was unable to because her side began to burn as soon as she gasped for air.

“They were attacking us,” she heard Florence’s voice in a heated argument with Evelyne. “Isabella is hurt.”

“You don’t get to decide on the punishment for them, I do,” Evelyne explained, her voice tense.

“I wasn’t punishing them, I was defending us,” Florence replied, her voice a shout across the commotion around them. “They were about to kill Isabella.”

Evelyne was quiet when this new piece of information was revealed to her. Instead of her presenting counter-arguments, Isabella heard Michaela’s voice now.

“I don’t think so,” she told Florence. “They might have wanted to scare her, but _kill_ her? That’s a serious accusation and should not be made lightly.”

“Ask her,” Florence said.

Isabella heard steps coming toward her. She kept her eyes closed and tried to breathe again, but once she had drawn in a bit of air, she winced in pain.

“Isa,” she heard Florence. Her voice was in a panic now. “Isa!”

Isabella opened her eyes, but at the sight of absolute panic on Florence’s face, she wanted to do nothing more than close them again. It was too painful to watch. She mouthed, “I’m all right,” to make Florence stop worrying about her, but no sound would leave her mouth.

Florence kneeled down next to her and stroked her hair.

“Is she alive?” Evelyne asked, worry in her voice.

“Yes,” Florence answered, “but I think she’s hurt badly.”

“Do you need help carrying her inside?” Evelyne offered.

“I don’t think we should move her until we know what’s wrong,” Florence said. “Isa, can you talk?”

Isabella winced.

“Can you show us where you’re hurt?” Florence tried again.

Isabella tried to move her right arm over to her left side where she felt pain every time she breathed, but lifting her arm was too much effort and she had to give up with a grunt.

“I think it’s her rips,” Evelyne said.

Isabella still could not see her but apparently Evelyne could see her.

“How can you tell?”

“Look at her, breathing causes her pain,” Evelyne answered. “Also, she’s trying not to put any weight onto her left side.”

Florence nodded. “Should we try and carry her inside the house?”

“Yes, I think we can risk that. First, I’m going to have a word with Michaela.”

Florence sat down next to Isabella, without stopping the hand moving through her hair.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “You’re going to be okay.”

Isabella gave herself over to Florence’s touch and closed her eyes again. In the distance, she heard the sounds of Evelyne and Michaela in a heated discussion, but she could not understand what they were saying and she also did not care much now. She just wanted the pain to stop. Florence kept stroking her hair but remained quiet, listening to what was said a couple of feet away from them.

Isabella kept drifting off to sleep, but the loud sounds around her brought her back regularly. She could not have said for how long she had been lying there, it could have been a couple of minutes or days, but finally, Evelyne came back and offered Florence to help her carry Isabella back to the house.

“We shouldn’t carry her up the stairs,” Evelyne added. “I can make room for her in the living room.”

Isabella prepared herself for the pain of being carried back to the house, but when she was lifted, the hands that held her were soft and careful and her back was supported by something. It did not take her long to realise she was brought back to the house by magic.

A sudden rush of warmth flooded over her when she floated into the house and it made her blood circulate faster, making the pain even more prominent. She groaned when she was lowered onto the sofa and just wanted to curl into a ball and go to sleep, but Florence was having none of it.

“We have to take a look at your rips first,” she told Isabella, stopping her from rolling onto her injured side. “And it wouldn’t hurt if you would let us examine you in general. Who knows what else is broken.”

Carefully, Florence began to undress Isabella. She was glad she was wearing nothing more than a nightgown and the jacket. Even though Evelyne was right there with them in the room, Isabella was not bothered by being undressed in front of an almost stranger. Florence went so carefully about this task there was no additional pain for Isabella. And once she was naked, Florence fingers glided across her body, searching for blemishes, but it felt like a soft massage to Isabella.

“She has bruising and cuts,” Florence told Evelyne, “but I don’t think anything else is broken apart from the rips.”

“Are the rips broken then?” Evelyne asked for clarification.

“Yes, they are,” Florence confirmed. “Two on the left side.”

“It will take long to heal,” Evelyne said with a sigh. “Even with magic, a broken rip isn’t easily mended.”

“I will see to it that Isabella can recover quickly,” Florence said with resolution in her voice. “I will not leave her side until she is better.”

“That’s very honourable of you,” Evelyne agreed, “but you mustn’t neglect your other duties. I will ask Maggie to assist you and I will send a couple of guards to keep an eye on you. We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Will you stay with her while I go downstairs and prepare bandages for her?” Florence asked Evelyne.

“Of course,” Evelyne answered.

Isabella must have fallen asleep while Florence was gone because she jerked awake when someone touched her shoulder softly. With the help of Evelyne, Florence wrapped Isabella’s rip cage in bandages and helped her dress into a pair of soft pyjama bottoms. Then she covered Isabella with a blanket and put one of her hands on top of it where Isabella’s rips were. A warmth began to spread through the fracture and knowing the worst was over now, Isabella finally fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella learns the story about how Maggie came to live in the village.

Isabella spent the whole day in a stupor. She lay asleep for most of it, only sometimes woken up by girls rushing past. Florence sat with her until midday, talking to her in a soft voice. Isabella did not understand what Florence was telling her, but she enjoyed the comfort of knowing her close.

When the afternoon approached, Florence was joined by Maggie. They talked to each other in whispers and then Florence stood up from the floor, where she had been sitting holding Isabella hand and walked away.

“Isabella, are you awake?” Maggie asked.

Isabella did not open her eyes, but nodded.

“Florence has to teach a class now, but I’m going to stay with you until she gets back,” Maggie explained.

Isabella nodded again to signal that she had understood Maggie.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Maggie went on. “I know you probably don’t care about what happens to the people who did this to you, but they will be punished, I can promise you that. We will be holding a trial and you can give a statement if you want to.”

Isabella was not really listening to what Maggie told her. What happened to the girls was of secondary importance to her. Now that Florence was gone, the pain in her side returned. She groaned and shifted around, but could not find a comfortable position to lie in.

“Are you in pain?” Maggie asked immediately.

Isabella nodded again.

“I can fetch you a potion,” Maggie offered.

Isabella was left alone for the first time since the attack and felt panic rise up inside her. She was lying here without protection and if someone wanted to harm her, they would be able to do so now. She was not even strong enough to defend herself. All they had to do was to pick up a cushion, which had always looked comfortable to Isabella but which she now recognised as the murder weapons they were, and smother her with it.

“Calm down, Isabella.”

Maggie was back and she grabbed Isabella’s shoulder, holding her down. Isabella struggled against the grip, but was unable to free herself.

“Florence!”

Maggie’s voice rang in Isabella’s ears and made her panic even more.

“What’s going on?”

Florence’s voice had the effect of calming her down a bit, but she was still on the edge and flinched at every sound.

“What did you do?” Florence snapped at Maggie when she spotted Isabella thrashing around on the sofa.

“Nothing,” Maggie defended herself. “I just left her for two minutes to get her something to fight the pain.”

“Isa?” Florence asked softly, dropping down next to the sofa. “Isa, I’m here, you’re safe.”

Isabella felt herself relax and her breathing return to normal.

“Maggie will stay here with you and make sure nothing is going to happen to you, okay?” Florence went on in her soft voice and Isabella’s heart jumped in her chest, which had nothing to do with the panic attack she had just lived through.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you, Isabella,” Maggie apologised. “I’m gonna stay here with you from now on and make sure no one can get near you.”

Florence squeezed Isabella’s hand reassuringly before standing up. “Thank you, Maggie.” Her anger from earlier had evaporated. “I really appreciate it.”

Then the room turned quiet again and Isabella could hear footsteps on the floor above and the sound of voices outside and the faint gurgling of the stream in the distance. Nothing indicated she had almost been killed last night. No, she was being over-dramatic. Florence was there to protect her; she had never seriously been in danger of losing her life. Still, in all her years as a witch hunter, this had been one of the most dangerous situations she had been in. If Florence had not been there with her, it was highly likely she would have been killed.

Maggie noticed she was restless. “I can tell you what’s going on in the village if you want to,” she offered.

Isabella shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was to spend more time thinking about her attackers.

Maggie thought for a bit. “I can tell you how I came to live here,” she suggested.

Isabella looked at her for the first time since she had come to watch over Isabella.

“Good.” Maggie smiled at her. “I came here with a group of witches, most of whom have already left. We didn’t flee from persecution, like you did, but the woman I was with was not able to teach so many girls. I used to live in Los Angeles and dropped out of school to become an actress and the agency I signed with actually was a community of witches.”

Isabella shifted around on the sofa to watch Maggie as she was telling this story.

“I’m sure you’ve heard stories about Los Angeles,” Maggie went on. “There are so many young girls who want to become actresses, but almost none of them make it. We have to find other means to make a living eventually. Our boss – that was who she was to us – taught us to brew potions that made you look younger or thinner or prettier and we sold it to other aspiring actresses. Since she kept signing on girls and promising them they would become famous but eventually turned them into a cheap workforce, there were so many girls living with her that she ran out of room.”

Isabella wanted to ask if there were no laws against selling potions to humans, but she still did not trust her voice, so she waited for Maggie to continue her story.

“Of course, her dealings did not go unnoticed by other witches,” Maggie went on. “We don’t live as secluded as it seems. One night, our leader was visited by two other witches who tried to make her see sense stop her. They talked about how she couldn’t just sell potions to every aspiring actress because if everyone was suddenly more beautiful, the potions wouldn’t get them where they wanted to be and just leave lots of unsatisfied customers behind.

“Our boss sent them away without listening to them and continued brewing and selling potions, now more than ever. We had to work twelve hours a day so she would give us something to eat. But the other witches had been right – soon the first young girls came to us, complaining she had lied to them and saying the potions weren’t working.” Maggie smiled sadly. “Our boss wouldn’t listen to them and sold them even more potions, but soon they were back with the police who tried to arrest her for scamming. She refused to go with them and tossed them out with a spell, which exposed her as a real witch.”

Isabella nodded. She had wondered how Maggie’s former leader could go on selling potions when witchcraft was outlawed.

“I don’t know how much you know about California, but the ban on witchcraft isn’t as strong there as it is in Europe,” Maggie explained. “We can pretty much just live our lives, as long as we don’t use magic overtly. Selling potions or spells is common and witch hunters are rare and are generally not to be trusted.”

Isabella took a deep breath. “Why doesn’t every witch just move to California then?” Her voice was raw but steady and the words came out loud enough for Maggie to hear.

“There isn’t much exchange between witches, except for when we’re hiding,” Maggie explained. “And witches from California don’t need to hide that often, so others don’t know what it’s like to live there.”

Isabella nodded.

“Still, in the case of my boss, the authorities couldn’t be reasoned with. They gave her an ultimatum to abandon her business or she would be locked up and executed. She hadn’t listened to her own kind warning her, but the police struck terror into her heart and she panicked. We all had to leave one night and make our way to one of the safe places. There were around 50 of us and of course our flight was noticed and the police followed us. We tried to reach one of the safe places, but when we arrived there, they told us we were too many and they were only going to take in 20 of us. Our boss just picked 19 girls at random and abandoned the rest of us.

“We were sitting near the entrance, waiting for the police to catch up, when the witches at the safe place turned against us and chased us away. They didn’t want anyone to find their hiding place. They only stopped when we reached a forest and hid there. You can imagine how scared we were, especially the younger ones. We were lost in the woods, with no food or water and no knowledge of how to survive or where the next village was. It was also highly unlikely they would welcome us with open arms. Rural communities still hunt and kill witches on a regular basis, you know.

“We spent a night in the forest huddled around a fire, and the next morning I decided to walk off alone to see if I could find help somewhere. I wandered around the forest for three days, only eating berries I found. On the fourth day, I came to a farm and when I told them I had gotten lost in the woods and was looking for help for me and my friends, they organised a search party.”

“Did they find the others?” Isabella asked, a bit out of breath.

Maggie winced. “Yes and no,” she answered. “They found three but the others remained lost.”

“Do you know what happened to them?”

Maggie shook her head. “The group got into a fight while I was gone and most of them agreed I had abandoned them and wasn’t going back. They set out to find help on their own, while the three who were found remained where I had left them and were rescued in the end.”

“And that’s when you came here?” Isabella asked.

“We decided to look for other safe places, yes,” Maggie confirmed. We had no idea where to look, only that they had to exist somewhere. When we met other witches, they were usually reluctant to tell us anything about them until one day we met a witch who had just lost all of her students in a raid and was prepared to take us here.”

“And you’ve been here since then?” Isabella asked.

“Yes. The others left a couple of years ago to return to California and be a better teacher than ours had been. I stayed here.”

“Why?” Isabella asked, before blushing because the question had been so direct. “If you don’t mind telling me.”

“I got offered a job,” Maggie answered with a smile. “Evelyne asked me if I wanted to be her right hand and I accepted.”

Isabella closed her eyes. Listening to Maggie’s story had made her tired, but it had been a nice distraction from her pain.

“Do you want to take your medicine now and try to sleep?” Maggie asked her. “I won’t go anywhere until Florence gets back, I promise.”

Isabella accepted the little bottle Maggie handed to her and took a sip. The liquid tasted sickly sweet, but showed its effects almost instantly and Isabella sank back with a sigh.

*

Over the next days, Isabella had no idea what was going on outside the living room. Most of the time, Florence was at her side, holding her hand and telling her about the classes she was missing. Sometimes, Maggie came to visit and always brought her little presents, like a muffin or a hat she had made for her. In the evenings, the girls gathered around the sofa and entertained her with stories or jokes or showed off spells they had learned.

Isabella was happy with this life and had no longing to learn what had happened to Ulli and the others. Michaela came to visit her once, apologising for the behaviour of her girls, but she did not stay long since Florence would not stop glaring at her.

A few days after the attack, Evelyne came by and asked after Isabella’s health. Isabella was not awake then, but Florence told her about Evelyne’s visit. This was the first time she realised she would have to face the event eventually and could not pretend nothing had happened.

Her rips were healing nicely, especially since Florence took good care of them. Two weeks after she had lain down on the sofa, she was able to get up and move into the bedroom. The climb up the stairs exhausted her and she slept for three hours afterwards, but she also enjoyed having privacy and Florence lying next to her.

The first night back in her room, Isabella was haunted by the memories of what had happened. Every tiny sound woke her up, whether it was Florence breathing next to her or a breeze rustling the leaves on a bush outside. After she had woken up with a shout for the third time, Florence turned to her with a small sigh.

“I’m so sorry,” Isabella mumbled, hiding her face in her hands. She felt tears burning at the corner of her eyes. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Florence put a hand on Isabella’s arm. “I’m worried for you,” she said softly. “I don’t want you to have nightmares.”

“I don’t have nightmares,” Isabella said through her fingers. “I just remember that night and how I was woken up by sounds downstairs …” She drifted off, the first tears rolling down her cheek.

“Would you be more comfortable if you stayed in another room?” Florence asked carefully.

Isabella shook her head. “I think it would be the same everywhere.” She failed to supress a sob.

Florence pulled her into a hug. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked carefully.

“It’s that damn darkness,” Isabella managed to say after taking a deep breath. “Every time I see a shadow move or hear a sound I think it’s Ulli and the others coming to get me.”

“But it wasn’t as bad as this when you slept downstairs, was it?” Florence wanted to know.

Isabella shook her head. “Maybe it was because I was around people,” Isabella thought out loud. “Up here, we’re secluded and alone.”

“You’re not alone, Isa,” Florence said firmly. “Nothing will happen to you as long as I’m here, okay?”

She threw off her blanket and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Isabella asked, hating the panic in her voice.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Florence promised. “I just had an idea.”

She went over to the balcony door and pushed it open. Isabella braced herself for a cold gust of wind, but it did not come. Florence used a similar spell to the one she had used during that night to create floating orbs of light, but they were larger and stronger and illuminated the balcony. When she closed the door again, the lights remained outside, hovering in front of the glass, shining a warm light into the room.

“Now it’s not completely dark anymore,” Florence said with a smile. “And you have something to look over you.”

 Isabella appreciated the gesture but her heart was still beating violently in her chest.

“You still look worried,” Florence observed when she climbed back into the bed.

“I’m sorry,” Isabella said again. “Please, don’t mind me. I’ll be fine.”

Florence pulled her into a warm embrace. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to you,” she whispered. “Especially after I told you what an accepting place this is. You must feel terribly betrayed.”

Betrayal was not one of the emotions Isabella felt, at least not toward Florence. “I was scared something like this might happen,” Isabella reminded Florence. “Not that I blame you, but a part of me still thinks it was a mistake to come here.”

“Believe me, they will be punished,” Florence assured her. “Evelyne and I have been working on –”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Isabella interrupted her. “I know you mean well, but I don’t want to deal with them right now.”

“Wouldn’t it make you feel better to know what’s going to happen to them?” Florence asked.

Isabella shook her head. “No. If you asked me, I wouldn’t want to think about them ever again.”

Florence nodded. “I won’t mention them until you’re ready. And if you’re never ready, we will not speak of them again.”

Isabella moved closer to her. “Thank you,” she whispered.

There was a brief silence between them.

“There’s one thing I have to ask you though,” Isabella started again.

Florence remained quiet and waited for Isabella to go on.

“Are we still allowed to stay here?” Isabella asked slowly. “After all, the whole village is up in arms about what happened.”

“If someone has to leave, it’s them,” Florence said, her voice cold and unforgiving. “You have more right to stay here than any of them.”

Isabella blushed.

They were quiet after this. Isabella could feel herself drifting off to sleep. The lights outside were working and she felt safe and protected lying in Florence’s arms. She was convinced Ulli and her girls could not hurt her now.

“Isabella?” came Florence’s whisper when she had almost fallen back asleep.

“Hm?” Isabella made, not wanting to open her eyes.

“I love you.”

Half asleep, Isabella kissed Florence’s nose, the first part of her face she reached with her closed eyes. “Love you too.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella has to decide whether she wants to appear at Ulli's trial or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break, we went to Dublin last week to surprise a friend who is getting married and this week was really stressful, but I'm back now.

Over the next week, Isabella was unable to escape the trial, which held the whole village spellbound. Since she had moved to the bedroom upstairs, people felt compelled to visit her and tell her the news. Technically, Isabella was already fit enough again to walk around, but she preferred the safety of the room. Outside, everyone seemed to be staring at her.

Nevertheless, she could not escape the attention having survived the attack of a group of witches brought with it. Even though there was no one staring at her in here, she heard at least once a day how the guard in front of her room turned a visitor away.

With every day that passed, Florence looked more tired. When she left the bed in the morning, she did so with a heavy sigh passing her lips and when she returned in the evening, her eyes were underlined with dark circles. Isabella wished there was something she could do to make Florence’s life easier for her, but since she had said she did not want to talk about the trial, Florence did not mention anything that was going on outside.

Four weeks after the attack, Isabella started to use her arm again. Florence’s bandages had worked wonders and even though she was stiff in her movement and did not dare to breathe in too deeply, she did not feel pain anymore. Now that she did not have an excuse to stay in bed anymore, she had to leave the comforts of her room and face whatever was going on outside.

The last night before she would leave the bed, Florence started talking about the trial, only to prepare Isabella for what was going on outside. They were lying face to face, the room still illuminated by the orbs of light Florence had created, so Isabella could make out every detail on her face.

“I know you don’t want to talk about this,” Florence began, “but I have to ask you if you want to appear as a witness at the trial.”

Isabella, who had thought the trial had to be almost over by now, was surprised they still asked her to appear as a witness.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Florence added quickly. “I don’t think it’ll change much. Evelyne is pretty set in her verdict.”

Isabella did not want to ask what this verdict would be, but she thought about the implications of her appearing at the trial. For her taste, she had been on the stand one too many times already this year and when it would not make any difference, she did not want to do it again.

“I don’t think I’m going to,” she told Florence finally, “if they can manage without me, that is.”

“Sure,” Florence said, giving her a kiss. “I’ll tell Evelyne tomorrow.”

“About tomorrow …,” Isabella started slowly. “What will happen? I mean, should I just go around as if everything is normal?”

“Isn’t it?”

Isabella did not want to start an argument about how abnormal things were at the moment. “I hope it is,” she said.

A tiny part of her wanted to ask Florence about Ulli and Evelyne’s verdict, but the bigger part just wanted to act as if it did not concern her.

Florence noticed Isabella’s head was spinning with conflicting thoughts and feelings and so she kissed her softly. “I know it’s not easy, but we should try to put the incident behind us.”

The kiss had ignited something in Isabella. She leaned forward for a repetition and Florence obliged. Since they had confessed their love for each other, they had not talked about their feelings, too busy with what was going on in their lives. Now, in the quietness of the evening at the start of a new chapter, they felt up to the task.

“I love you,” Isabella said quietly, her eyes wide open this time.

Florence was the third partner she had said this to. The first two, however, seemed pale in comparison to the beacon of light Florence was in Isabella’s life. Isabella had never felt for anyone like she felt for Florence. Normally, her feelings did not exceed those of a brief crush. Normally, her feelings went away after a couple of months and left her indifferent. But with Florence, it was different. She felt calm whenever Florence was near, she felt secure when she lay in Florence’s arms. It was a quiet love, but it was so strong Isabella was sometimes still scared of its implications.

Florence smiled. “I love you too, Isa.”

They began to kiss again, slowly and leisurely, but Isabella felt how they had not been intimate in quite some time. Soon, she wanted more than kissing and put her left hand on Florence’s hip to pull Florence close. Florence let her do it, but did not touch Isabella in return.

Their kisses grew heated and Isabella’s heart began to beat faster. When Florence let her tongue glide across Isabella’s lip, Isabella moaned loudly. Florence raised a hand to put it in front of Isabella’s mouth, but then remembered no one could hear them up here in the bedroom. Instead, she gripped Isabella’s hair and pulled back her head so she could bite her neck.

Isabella moaned again and moved her hand from Florence’s hip to her thigh. She pushed between her legs, but rested her hand there, wanting to tease Florence with the possibility of a touch. In response, Florence bit her neck harder.

“Careful, or you’ll leave marks,” Isabella hissed.

“Maybe I want to leave them,” Florence pointed out, kissing the spot she had just bitten into.

Isabella inched her hand further up Florence’s thigh.

“What are you waiting for?” Florence asked her with a cocked eyebrow.

Isabella leaned forward until her lips were touching the rim of Florence’s ear. “Your permission.”

It could have been her imagination, but she thought Florence shivered.

“Touch me,” she ordered and Isabella obliged happily.

Florence was wearing thin underpants through which Isabella could feel dampness. She used one finger to push at the fabric covering Florence’s hole, but then moved back up again where her clit was and lightly touched it.

“That’s not what I meant when I said you should touch me,” Florence said with a growl.

She gripped Isabella’s wrist and led her hand into her pants forcefully. Isabella panted when her fingers touched the wetness there. She began to circle Florence’s clit and Florence rolled around so she was lying on her back, sighing happily.

“That’s better,” she praised Isabella.

Isabella shifted closer to Florence and moved her hand faster. All the while, she kept an eye on Florence’s face, which was turned toward the ceiling. She had her eyes closed and looked concentrated, as if she was listening to someone answer a question she had asked in class.

Isabella applied more pressure to Florence’s clit and Florence’s hip jumped upwards. Knowing she was on the right path, Isabella continued this for a few short minutes until Florence came with a shudder.

As soon as her orgasm had passed, Florence turned back to Isabella and cupped her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Isabella giggled. “You don’t have to say thank you.”

“But I do,” Florence insisted. “I thought, after what happened, you wouldn’t want to talk to me ever again.”

Isabella shook her head forcefully, which made something in her neck snap. “It wasn’t your fault. I love you, Florence.”

Florence smiled and cuddled up to her, suddenly looking vulnerable. “I don’t deserve you, Isa.”

Isabella gripped Florence’s shoulders and pushed her away so she could look at her. “Don’t ever say that again,” she said forcefully. “You deserve this, okay?” She had no idea what was happening, but it scared her.

Florence nodded, but she did not look as if she would believe Isabella. “I sometimes get the feeling I’ve failed everyone,” she admitted. “You, the girls, Evelyne … I should have listened to you when you told me to bring Nora back to her father. Everything would have been different.”

“Yes,” Isabella nodded, “everything would have been different. You would have condemned Nora to a life of misery and pain, your girls might have hated you for not protecting her, and I would have gone back to London and left you. Considering how miserable I would have been – and how miserable Nora would have been – you chose the better option.”

This seemed to cheer Florence up. She smiled at Isabella. “You’re right.”

Isabella bit her bottom lip. She wanted to tell Florence something she had not yet worked up the courage to voice out loud. But in this moment, while they were lying in bed so intimately, sheltered from everything that was going on outside, she felt ready to say it, even though she knew once the words would have left her mouth, she would not be able to take them back.

“Flo,” she started carefully. “You keep saying you will protect me and will never let me come to any harm again.”

“Yes,” Florence confirmed.

“I also want to promise you something,” Isabella went on. “I promise you I will forever love you. No matter what happens, no matter how much you think you’ve failed, I will be there and I will give you all the love I can give.”

Florence stared at her. “That’s a big promise to make,” she said, panting slightly.

“I know it is,” Isabella said, “but this is how I feel and nothing can change that.”

*

The next morning, when Isabella came downstairs, the girls were all gathered in the living room. They applauded when Isabella made her entrance, which made Isabella blush and she told them to stop.

Evelyne was also there, and once the first commotion had stopped, she walked up to Isabella and shook her hand. “It’s good to see you back on your feet,” she said. “How do you feel?”

“My arm is still a bit stiff from not using it the past couple of weeks,” Isabella answered, “but apart from that I couldn’t be happier.”

“Good,” Evelyne said with a smile, “because I have a favour to ask of you. Would you be willing to appear at the trial for Ulli and the others?”

“She doesn’t want to,” Florence, who had been standing nearby, immediately said.

“No, I’m gonna do it,” Isabella contradicted her. 

Florence stared at her in surprise.

“I’ve been thinking,” Isabella explained, “and Florence told me my verdict wouldn’t change the outcome of the trial. But I’m the reason for why we’re having the trial in the first place, so I think my voice should be heard.”

“Very well,” Evelyne said. “Would you like to come by my house this afternoon then?”

“Yes,” Isabella answered. Her voice was shaking slightly. She knew she was doing the right thing, but the prospect of coming face to face with Ulli again stressed her.

“It will be just a talk between me, you, and Maggie,” Evelyne explained. “You won’t have to be in the same room as Ulli. She is locked up.”

“Should I come with you?” Florence offered.

“No,” Isabella declined. “I’m sure I’ll manage. You’re needed here.”

Florence did not look happy, but accepted Isabella’s wishes with a nod.

In the afternoon, Isabella left the house for the first time after the attack. Maggie picked her up to bring her safely to Evelyne’s house. No one expected Isabella to be attacked again, but everyone felt safer in the knowledge she would not walk around the village on her own.

Isabella had expected people to be staring at her, but the few people they met did not make eye contact with them. Isabella wished she had asked Florence what the mood in the village was and if everyone hated her. Instead, she was left wondering.

They arrived at Evelyne’s house without any incident. Maggie opened the door for her and smiled encouragingly, but Isabella suddenly found herself wishing she could be anywhere but here.

“Don’t look so worried,” Maggie whispered. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Isabella.” Evelyne greeted her with a hug, acting as if they had not seen each other in many years. “Welcome. Can I offer you anything? Tea, maybe?”

Isabella accepted so she would have something to occupy her hands with. Evelyne guided her to the big sofa and had her sit down, fussing until she was sure Isabella was comfortable. When Maggie had returned with a cup of tea, Evelyne turned her full attention to Isabella.

She asked her about what exactly had happened that night, not telling her if she had talked with someone about this yet. Isabella gave her a detailed account, trying to remember the events, even though it was painful for her and she had to pause quite a few times. Neither Evelyne nor Maggie forced her to talk and when Isabella sobbed at the end of her story, Evelyne pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Isabella apologised for what felt like the hundredth time. “I don’t know why I’m so affected by this.”

“It was very brave of you to come here today,” Evelyne assured her, “and you helped us a lot.”

Isabella still had no desire to learn what would happen to Ulli and the others, so she did not ask how her testimony would affect the outcome of the trial. Instead, she asked something she had asked Florence before.

“Will we be allowed to stay here?”

“How do you mean?” Evelyne demanded clarification.

“I mean, we upset the whole village,” Isabella explained. “If I had never come here, Ulli would not have had a reason to attack me.”

Evelyne sighed deeply. “While you were recovering from your injuries,” she began, “another group of witches arrived, from the south of Sweden. They told us Americans had come to their hiding place and asked them about you and Florence. Just like Michaela and her girls, they had had to flee and seek sanctuary here.”

Isabella’s heart began to race. “So they’re still on the right path?”

“It would appear so, yes,” Evelyne confirmed. “Out there, you would be in mortal danger. If we would send you away, you would only last a couple of weeks.

“We’re not cruel, Isabella,” Maggie added. “We would not send you to your certain death.”

“What are we going to do?” Isabella asked. Her head was spinning with this new information. “At this rate, I won’t take the Americans more than a month to find us.”

“They won’t find us,” Evelyne assured her. “But I have to admit we can’t just sit here and wait for it all to blow over. We need to actively start working against the Americans. We can’t let them continue like this until every witch in the world is hiding in a safe place.”

“What do you propose we do?” Isabella wanted to know.

“We will send Ulli to the Americans,” Evelyne answered. “There are spells and potions that help a person take on the appearance of another. We will enchant her so she looks like Florence and once the Americans think they have found her, they will stop hunting for her.”

“No!” Isabella shouted. “You can’t do that, no matter what Ulli did to me. You don’t know the Americans. They will torture her and torture her until she’s broken and even then they won’t kill her.”

“It is the best solution,” Evelyne insisted. “It not only solves our problem with Ulli and sets an example, it also keeps the Americans off our backs.”

“No, I won’t let you.”

“You won’t _let_ us?” Evelyne repeated, a shadow falling over her face. “What makes you think you have any authority here?”

“The punishment should fit the crime,” Isabella went on, not impressed with Evelyne’s subtle threat. “Cast them out, have them be the subject of public humiliation, anything would be better than this.”

“You don’t get to decide what happens to them.” Evelyne glared at Isabella. “You don’t know what it’s like to be responsible for so many lives. It’s the easiest way to protect them.”

“It might be the easiest, but it’s not the right one,” Isabella argued. “If it comes to that, I would turn myself over to the Americans before I let you send Ulli.”

Maggie snorted with laughter. “Why would you do that?”

“I’m in the wrong here, not Ulli,” Isabella explained. “She only tried to protect her kind against an intruder who was responsible for her losing her home. Of course she was looking for someone to blame. To have her punished for trying to do the right thing isn’t fair. I tried to do the right thing when I helped Florence, even though my former colleagues thought I was in the wrong and should be executed. If Florence hadn’t stood up for me and saved me, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

“I know what you mean,” Maggie started slowly before Evelyne could continue arguing with Isabella, “but this is a different situation. You were protecting Florence and the girls from witch hunters, whereas Ulli was harming another witch. You don’t harm other witches.”

“What if they’re evil?” Isabella said before she could stop herself. “What about that witch who was sent away for teaching dangerous magic? What if a witch had harmed her to protect this village?”

“She did something wrong first,” Maggie answered slowly. “You did nothing wrong.”

“But I did.” Isabella had jumped up and was shouting now. She could not believe it was really so difficult for Evelyne and Maggie to understand this. “I harmed countless witches before Florence was kind enough to forgive me and take me in.”

Maggie and Evelyne both looked at the floor, not knowing what to say to this.

“Punish Ulli however you like,” Isabella finished, “but don’t kill her and _don’t_ send her away.”

Having made her point, Isabella stormed out of the house and trudged back toward her home. She wanted to tell Florence about what Evelyne had decided, but she had the feeling Florence would not disagree with her on this. Florence had once explained to her that it if a witch was endangering her own kind, she had to be killed for the sake of everyone. But handing Ulli over to the Americans was much worse than killing her and Isabella would not stand by and watch without trying to prevent it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella visits the girls who attacked her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for this random update on a Tuesday, but since I didn't update last Friday I'm doing it now.

Isabella did not have to look far to find Florence. She was getting ready to give a class on protective spells and had opened the door to the cellar when Isabella burst in through the door.

“We need to talk,” Isabella said without any greeting.

“They told you, didn’t they?” Florence asked, sadness in her eyes.

“You know about it?” Isabella asked. “And you didn’t try to stop them?”

Florence could not suppress a laugh. “Stop them?” she repeated. “It’s not a question of stopping them – Evelyne is our leader and if she says she wants Ulli punished this way, the topic isn’t up for discussion.”

“We can’t let it happen,” Isabella insisted. “It’s way too cruel a punishment.”

“Is it?”

Isabella did not recognise Florence when a shadow fell over her face. She was still standing with her hand on the doorknob, the door half open, but whatever her body was doing did not register with her. Her face had fallen in, and her eyes, which appeared to be more pronounced than ever, were cold and piercing.

“They hurt you,” she continued, “and I want to see them punished.”

Isabella bit her lip. She did not want to have the same discussion she had just had with Evelyne and Maggie about the same topic. Instead, she chose a different approach.

“I know what they did wasn’t right,” she said, “and I know witches have strict rules and even stricter punishments. But do you really think it is just that Ulli is sent to the Americans? They will torture her for weeks before they kill her. And who says she won’t tell them the truth? What if she transforms back? What if she convinces them she isn’t you? Then we’ve sent a girl into torture for nothing and the Americans would still be coming for us.”

Florence considered this. “I’m sure Evelyne will find a way to make the spell permanent.”

Isabella decided it was no use to argue further about this topic. Instead, a new plan was beginning to form in her mind.

She sighed heavily. “I’m gonna let you teach your class now,” she said, “but I want to talk to you about this later.”

Florence was glad Isabella was letting her go and she assured her they would talk about it this evening. Isabella hung around the living room until Florence’s steps had faded away, then she hurried back outside. She had no idea where they held Ulli and the others captive, but she suspected the best person to answer this question for her was Maggie.

She ran into her in front of Evelyne’s house. Maggie’s face froze upon laying eyes on Isabella, but when Isabella smiled at her, she relaxed slightly.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to argue with you,” Isabella opened. “I’ve come to ask you a question.”

Maggie glanced over her shoulder nervously, as if she feared Evelyne would not approve of them talking to each other.

“Yes?” she asked once she had made sure no one was watching them.

“Where do they keep Ulli and the others? I think I would like to see them,” Isabella stated.

If Maggie suspected an ulterior motive behind this request, she did not show it. “They’re in our jail,” she answered.

“There’s a jail here?” Isabella could not remember one from her tour through the village.

“We don’t use it often,” Maggie explained. “I can take you there if you want to.”

Isabella nodded and Maggie led her to the end of the valley, where the stream had its source. The further away they strolled from the houses, the darker it became, and Isabella’s natural instincts kicked in, making her want to run away from whatever was lurking in the shadows. She had been in countless situations like this one during training, and years of hunting witches had made her wary of dark forests. Adding to this came the recent attack and soon Isabella had to force herself to continue walking next to Maggie.

Maggie noticed her discomfort. “Are you okay, Isabella?” she asked carefully, remembering when Isabella had had a panic attack back at the house. “We can go back and come back with Florence.”

For some reason, Isabella was irked by the idea that she needed Florence’s guidance. “No, I’m fine,” she answered through gritted teeth, increasing her speed.

Maggie did not mention it again, but stared at the path ahead.

“Is it much further?” Isabella asked, impatience in her voice. She wanted to appear strong and brave in front of Maggie, not like a weak girl who needed the help of her teacher.

“We’re almost there,” Maggie answered.

Isabella could feel there was more she wanted to say, but Isabella’s bad mood kept her from speaking.

“I’m sorry,” Isabella apologised. “I know you mean well … I’m just a bit stressed at the moment.”

“I understand,” Maggie accepted her apology. “This whole situation must be horrible for you.”

Isabella wondered for how long she would be able to use the attack as an excuse, but before she could offer a longer explanation for her bad mood to Maggie, her companion stopped.

“We’re here,” she pointed out.

Isabella looked around for any sign of a house or shed, but could only see trees and behind them solid rock where the mountain started. But then she spotted two guards, a sight she had gotten used to in this village.

“The jail is nothing more than a cave,” Maggie explained, spotting the confused look on Isabella’s face. “It’s the safest place because you only need the guard the entrance. Come on.”

She led Isabella to the guards. Behind them, there was a small hole in the side of the mountain. Isabella craned her neck for any sign of Ulli and the others, but was quickly distracted by the guards.

“What do you want?” one of them asked.

Isabella could not tell for sure, but she seemed to recognise the woman who had welcomed them when they had come to the village.

“I bring Isabella Summers,” Maggie answered. “She wants a word with the prisoners.”

“We can’t allow that,” the guard answered. “Absolutely no visitors allowed.”

“She is the one who was attacked by them,” Maggie explained. “She has a right to see them.”

“Was this visit sanctioned by Evelyne?” the other guard asked.

“I’m her second-in-command,” Maggie answered, drawing herself up to her full height.

The guards seemed to hesitate, contemplating their options. Finally, the second one stepped aside.

“You can have five minutes,” she said. “After that, we’ll come and get you.”

Isabella squeezed Maggie’s hand to say thank you and then quickly hurried toward the hole in the wall. Where she had expected an entrance of some kind, she was faced with bars. Behind them sat four girls. Due to the darkness, Isabella needed a couple of seconds to recognise Ulli among them, but once she had, she stepped toward her and put her hands on the bars.

“Ulli,” she whispered, conscious of the guards and Maggie somewhere behind her. When Ulli did not answer, she repeated her name.

“What do you want, witch killer?” another girl asked her.

“I want to speak with Ulli,” Isabella answered, unperturbed by the slur.

“She doesn’t want to speak with you,” the girl who had spoken said. “You have no right to be here.”

Isabella, who did not want to waste her five minutes with fruitless discussions, ignored her. “I know what they want to do to you,” she said quickly, “and I want you to know I don’t agree with them.”

“Good for you,” the girl started again. “Doesn’t change the fact that Ulli is going to lose her life because of you.”

“I _will_ find a way to get you out of there,” Isabella promised. “I won’t let them send you to the Americans.”

“Why should you help me?”

It was Ulli who had spoken this time. She finally raised her face and looked at Isabella directly. Isabella had to hide the shock she felt when seeing Ulli. Half her face was burned, she had lost most of the hair on her head, and there were dark blue welts on her throat.

“Because you acted on an instinct to defend the people closest to you,” Isabella answered, “and no one should be punished for that.”

“What does it matter to you?” Ulli wanted to know. “You can go on living your life of lies. Honestly? Don’t bother.”

Isabella was more hurt by Ulli’s words than she had been by the injuries. She was not quite sure what she had expected, coming here like this, but she had hoped to give Ulli hope.

“I won’t let them,” Isabella said, a quiver in her voice. “If they want to send you away, they have to go through me first.”

“Go away,” the girl who had spoken in the beginning snapped. “We don’t need you.”

Isabella glanced over her shoulder and saw one of the guards approaching, either because of the girl’s loud voice or because her time was up.

“I’ll get you out of there,” she promised quickly. “Just don’t give up.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Florence and Isabella take a bath together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I started going to university again and everything happened at once, but here's a longer chapter to make up for it.

When Isabella attended the dinner that evening, she was still shook from what she had seen in the cave. Walking back with Maggie, they had discussed the appalling situation in which the prisoners were held, but Maggie insisted it was the safest option. Isabella, however, could not stop thinking about the dirty floor and the unlit cave.

“They must be freezing,” she had pointed out.

Maggie had only shrugged. “Serves them right.”

Florence noticed Isabella had something on her mind, but did not ask her what the matter was. Instead, she put her hand on Isabella’s knee and softly stroked her while they were both sitting next to each other in silence. Isabella, who had been on edge for most of the day, relaxed into the touch and calmed down for the first time since she had left Evelyne’s house.

There was a toast to Isabella’s recovery during the dinner, which made Isabella blush in shame. Now that she had seen and heard how Ulli would be punished, she wished they would stop making such a big deal out of the attack. But she accepted their well-wishes with nods and smiles, all the while feeling Florence’s hand on her leg.

Later, in bed, Isabella was too tired to discuss Ulli and what she had seen. Instead, she lay on her side of the bed, watching shadows dance across the ceiling, and listened to Florence talk to her about how much the girls had improved since they had come to the village. They fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed, and if Florence was hurt by the lack of contact between them, she did not show it.

The next morning, Isabella felt bad about having been so cold the previous night, but when she turned around to make it up to Florence, she found the bed empty. A sinking feeling in her stomach told her she should have been nicer and it was all her fault. For ten minutes, there was nothing more she could do than lie in bed motionless and panic about having lost Florence. Then she realised how irrational she was being and decided to get up and look for her.

She found her in the bathtub, reading a book, and felt even sillier at having felt so lost a couple of minutes ago. Florence was naked, and Isabella had trouble keeping her eyes on Florence’s face because they kept gliding down the naked body under the surface.

“Good morning, Isa,” Florence said with a smile. “Feeling better?”

Isabella nodded. “I’m sorry I was so tense last night,” she apologised. 

Florence kept smiling at her.

“What are you reading?” Isabella changed to subject, nodding at the book in Florence’s hand.

“I know where you went yesterday afternoon,” Florence answered.

Isabella blushed red – she felt as if Florence had caught her cheating.

Florence laughed her glass-clear laugh. “Don’t look so panicked. I don’t want to chide you for it.”

“You don’t?” Isabella had expected a long talk about why she should keep away from Ulli.

“I’ve been thinking,” Florence began. “I don’t want to apologise for what I’m feeling in regards to the attack, but I also think the punishment might be a bit harsh.”

“Okay?” Isabella prompted Florence to go on.

“So I went to the library this morning and got this book,” Florence continued. She raised it so Isabella could look at the cover.

“What’s it about?” Isabella asked, not recognising its value from the title.

“It’s about cases similar to Ulli’s,” Florence explained. “I mean, not necessarily the same, but about cases of witches who broke our laws and how they were punished. I hope to find a case which can be related to ours and see what the punishment was then to explain to Evelyne that she is over-reacting.”

“Are you serious?” Isabella could not believe Florence was doing this for her. She had made plans, thinking she would have to deal with this situation on her own.

“I know you’re not accustomed to our laws,” Florence said with a smile, “but in this case, Evelyne is the one who is in the wrong. Don’t tell her I said that though.” Florence laughed. “I don’t think we should sacrifice our own kind to be saved from the Americans.”

“Have you already found something useful?” Isabella asked, lowering herself to her knees and glancing at the page Florence held open.

“Not yet, no,” she answered, “at least not similar cases. So far, the punishments inflicted on the witches were justified.”

“Do you need my help?” Isabella asked. “Are there any more books I could look at?”

“This one’s the only one we have at the library,” Florence answered, “but we can look at it together.”

Isabella smiled. “I don’t think that’s feasible,” she said.

“Why not? You could come into the bathtub with me.”

Isabella looked at the construction Florence was sitting in. “It does look a bit small. I don’t think I would fit.”

“But you’re tiny, Isa,” Florence pointed out. “Give it a try.”

Isabella smiled at again and started to undress. Florence watched her with a twinkle in her eyes. Thinking back to their first night at the village, Isabella discovered she did not mind Florence seeing her naked as much as she had minded back then, even though it was bright in the bathroom and Florence would be able to see every detail of her body. Florence watched her closely and even though Isabella could feel herself blush, she continued.

Once she had finished undressing, she climbed into the bathtub. Florence had made room for her and was sitting with her legs drawn against her upper body.

“Doesn’t this count as a waste of water?” Isabella asked. “Is this sanctioned by Maggie?”

Florence stretched out her legs so they were touching Isabella’s. “Hygiene is also important, wouldn’t you say? Especially after …” She nodded toward the bedroom.

Isabella giggled and it echoed through the bathroom.

“Do you want me to wash you?” Florence continued flirting with her. She moved her leg so it was brushing softly against Isabella’s.

“Shouldn’t we get going?” Isabella asked. “We have research to do and you have a class to teach.”

Florence leaned forward and put one hand on Isabella’s knee. “But you’ve just gotten in. Enjoy it.”

Isabella tried to relax, but the initial enjoyment of Florence flirting with her was wearing off.

“You look tense,” Florence remarked. “Let me help you with that.”

“No, Florence –” Isabella started, trying to climb out of the bathtub, but the surface was more slippery than she had expected and she fell back with a plop.

Florence used the momentum of the movement to glide across Isabella’s body so she was lying on top of her. She kissed her softly on the lips, but when Isabella’s knee connected with her stomach, she shot up with a yelp.

“I’m so sorry, Flo,” Isabella apologised immediately, sitting up so she could lay a hand on Florence’s stomach.

“That was painful,” Florence complained, looking hurt.

She fell back into her initial position, while Isabella made herself small on the other end of the bathtub. The book they had talked about lay forgotten on the floor of the bathroom, its pages dotted with water.

“Does it still hurt?” Isabella asked carefully after she had spent more than enough time watching the bathwater move in tiny waves.

“No,” Florence answered. “It never hurt much to begin with.” She met Isabella’s eyes. “Are you warm enough?”

Isabella, who had shivered shortly before Florence had asked the question, shrugged. “I think it was warmer when you first got in, wasn’t it?”

“I can teach you something,” Florence suggested eagerly. She moved her hand through the water and from this movement, it seemed to be getting warmer.

“Looks complicated,” Isabella remarked. “I’d have to manipulate water and everything.”

“Do you remember what I taught you about magic in Italy?” Florence asked her.

“About how it is sort of a sentient being and you can’t get it to do something it doesn’t want to?” Isabella picked pieces from her memory.

“Exactly.” Florence smiled at her.

“What does that have to do with heating water?” Isabella wanted to know.

“Magic also wants to help you,” Florence explained, “and when you’re cold, it heats water for you.”

“Seems a bit as if I’m using magic for my own personal gain,” Isabella shrugged. “I could also get out and drain the water.”

“Let magic help you,” Florence said with a smile. “Just reach out your hand and try to warm the water.”

Isabella, unsure if Florence was being serious right now, reached out her hand and moved it through the water, as Florence had done. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

“It’s not working,” she complained.

“Of course it’s not,” Florence laughed. “You don’t believe it’ll work.”

Isabella felt a bit attacked by Florence’s analysis, but kept her mouth shut.

“It’s like trying to fly on a broom,” Florence offered as help. “You also managed that eventually.”

“But it seems a bit … I don’t know, flimsy,” Isabella pointed out. “Are you saying if I believe I can warm up the water, I can just do it?”

“Yes and no,” Florence answered. “Of course you have to use your skills as a witch as well.”

“It seems awfully hard,” Isabella sighed.

“It’s not, believe me,” Florence said with an encouraging smile. “Just remember that you’re cold and you would like to be warmer.”

Isabella tried to concentrate on the cold water around her, willing it to be warmer. Again, nothing happened.

“I think I’m still too weak from my injuries,” she said, giving up.

“Ts,” Florence made, shaking her head. “Then we’ll have to find another way to make sure you’re warm.”

Isabella realised Florence was flirting with her again, but instead of trying to stop her, she wanted to enjoy it this time.

“What do you suggest we should do?” she made herself ask.

“Close your eyes,” Florence demanded.

Isabella did how she was told and closed her eyes. Even though she did not feel Florence move or make herself noticed in any other way, she immediately felt more relaxed. The water on her body had a nice feel to it and her ribs did not hurt for the first time in weeks.

“Sit up,” was Florence’s next command.

Even though Isabella had to raise her body out of the water and the cold air met her naked and wet skin, she did not shiver or complain. Her eyes were still closed, but she could feel Florence sit up as well. After a moment of silence, there were two hands on her arms and she could smell roses and honey.

“Keep your eyes shut,” Florence commanded when Isabella tried to sneak a peek.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What do you think?”

“Are you washing me?”

“Good guess,” Florence answered. “It doesn’t sound as romantic as I would have put it though.”

Isabella sat with her eyes closed and let Florence do as she wanted. Florence started with massaging Isabella’s shoulders and neck, touching her left side more carefully than her right, and then moved on to her arms. Maybe it had to do with magic, maybe it was due to Florence touching her, but Isabella indeed felt warmer. When Florence moved on to her breasts, however, Isabella had to shudder.

“Still cold?” Florence asked her.

“No,” Isabella giggled. “Just … excited.”

Even though she still had her eyes closed, Isabella was sure Florence was smirking. She began to massage Isabella’s breasts, brushing against her nipples softly, still all under the pretence of washing her. Isabella tried to act calm and collected, but was unable to deny that the touch had an effect on her.

“Keep still,” Florence reminded her as Isabella moved forward to be closer to Florence.

Isabella straightened her back again and waited for Florence to continue with the procedures. Florence, content with the result her actions had produced, moved on to washing Isabella’s stomach, which was partly in the water. The movements of her hand made waves in the otherwise still water and filled the room with a strange sound. Isabella had to giggle upon hearing it and Florence pinched one of her nipples in response.

“Am I clean now?” Isabella asked her.

“No,” Florence answered. “I haven’t washed the most important part yet, the one that needs the most attention after sex.”

“But we haven’t had sex since the last time I washed myself,” Isabella pointed out.

“Oh, did I say after sex?” Florence asked. “I meant _during_.”

Even though this pick-up line was frightfully cheesy, Isabella shivered with excitement. “What are you proposing?”

“This,” Florence answered, dipping her hand beneath the surface.

It felt weird in the beginning to be touched through water because there was resistance between Florence’s hand and Isabella’s clit, stronger than air. The movement of Florence’s hand also made the water around them move, but once Isabella had gotten used to this feeling, the experience almost felt more intimate than what they had done before. She let herself be touched by Florence like this, her eyes still closed, both hands gripping the edge of the bathtub.

“Don’t tense up,” Florence reminded her. “Think of your injury.”

Isabella, however, had other things on her mind than this. Florence’s hand between her legs was one of them.

“I’ve almost forgotten how soft you are,” Florence mumbled, leaning forward to ghost her lips across the shell of Isabella’s ear.

Isabella moaned softly and gripped Florence’s wrist to guide her hand.

“Don’t be impatient,” Florence warned her, but nevertheless increased the pressure.

While they were together like this in the bathtub, it was as if they were the only people on earth. Evelyne, Maggie, even Ulli – they all were forgotten for a few short minutes of bliss. Nothing existed beyond the confines of the bathroom. The only thing that mattered was Florence’s hand on her and the warm water around them, urging them on with soft movements.

“Do you want to come?” Florence asked her, slowing down the speed of her hand.

Isabella swallowed. “Not yet, no,” she admitted. “I don’t want this to be over.”

Florence took a deep breath. She continued to touch Isabella softly, almost lazily. Isabella, who still had her eyes closed, was sure Florence was watching her in concentration. They did not talk any more than this, but Isabella felt Florence’s warm breath on her neck and was sure Florence could feel hers.

When Isabella finally came, her orgasm was almost hesitant. It built up slowly and the release came like an afterthought. Florence pressed her hand against Isabella so she could feel her come and remained in this position once Isabella had opened her eyes again.

“I’ve never been touched like this before,” Isabella admitted with a shudder.

Florence, who refused to remove her hand, smiled at her. “I hope you will come like this many more times.”

Isabella, only now feeling the texture of her skin, which was getting wrinkled from being in the water for too long, made another attempt to climb out of the bathtub. However, her limps were still weak from the orgasm she had just had and she fell back once again.

“What have you done to me?” she complained playfully. “What kind of magic are you using on me?”

Florence’s face turned serious. “No magic,” she answered. “Never between us. Never when we’re doing this.”

Isabella nodded. “Never,” she repeated.


End file.
